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Is it a Wi-Fi or internet issue? Inside the two technologies.

Helpful Tips

We’ve all been there. It’s a Friday night and you’re settling in to stream your favorite show or game with friends. But you notice your favorite device doesn’t seem to be loading as fast as it usually does or not delivering content at all. Now you’re very frustrated after a long week — all you want to do is relax.

Faced with this, we often jump to the “internet” being the culprit, but that’s not always the case. Although they’re often used interchangeably, the internet and your Wi-Fi connection are actually two different systems powering your devices.

So, you might ask… what exactly is the internet? It might be hard to grasp sometimes due to its sheer size, but the internet is the service that connects your house or small business to the rest of the world — like all the websites and servers used by companies like Netflix, Facebook and YouTube.

Your internet connection is like power lines. They come into your house at a connection point and provide your home with electricity. Pioneer Connect internet is similar. Whether you’re connected using DSL or fiber, you’re connected to our network giving you access to the world of the internet.

Well then, what is Wi-Fi? It’s how you connect your wireless devices to the vast internet. Think of Wi-Fi like plugging in electronics to your wall outlets — it provides the final link to the electricity in your home. With Wi-Fi, your router creates a network in your home or small business where you can connect wirelessly. Without Wi-Fi, you’d have to plug in all your devices using a hardwired connection (ethernet) — not ideal for our mobile devices, like smartphones or tablets, which don’t even have ports for that type of a connection.

So you’re an expert now, right? Everything is running smoothly as long as your devices are working — but what happens when your devices give you errors or show no connection to Wi-Fi? Although it could be a number of different issues, connectivity troubles can often stem from the router, which is possibly no longer providing a Wi-Fi signal in your space. Or it may be the result of a faulty or older device. You can try power cycling the device or updating its firmware/operating system. If the cause of the connectivity issue is our network, we’ll get you back up and running.

If your issues are linked back to your router and you subscribe to Premium Wi-Fi, we’ve got covered! Give us a call 24/7 and we’ll get you back up in running in no time. If your router is no longer functional, you’ll get a new Wi-Fi 6 router free of charge. Not a Premium Wi-Fi user? Add it to your Pioneer account for just $8.95 per/mo.

If you don’t subscribe to Premium Wi-Fi and experience issues with your router, we’re not able to provide the same level of support to sort out the issue. Instead, consider choosing our affordable, peace-of-mind solution to keep you connected.

Whether your family calls it the internet or Wi-Fi, one thing remains the same: Pioneer Connect is here, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, to provide troubleshooting support, the best customer service and reliable internet service to connect your life.