I used to work for spectrum. I’d say around 60% of people legit do not know the difference between wifi and Internet. No wifi means no Internet, to them. Makes some trouble shooting harder
Them: “The WiFi is down.”
Me: ‘… No, I still see the TV & the laptop & Pi, on the network.’
Them: “I can’t connect to Flipboard.”
Me: ‘Ohhh, the internet is down. It’s probably at the cable modem. Wait a moment for it to failover to wireless, then try again.’
Them: “Yep, now the WiFi is back.”
Pedantic but correct. Only your connection to the internet is down.
Even when there are massive “internet outages” sometimes it’s just DNS being bad. The internet works just fine, it’s just not working in a way that you can make use of it.
Most consumer devices these days, if they detect the internet is down over a wifi connection (e.g. by inability to reach 1.1.1.1), will automatically disconnect from that wifi network, or at least show the same UI as if it had.
But when your electricity goes out, do you even consider whether it’s the power plant, substation, distribution station, or individual service drop that is the problem? Probably not. But I’m sure many power line technicians see the phrase “my power’s out” in the same way tech-savvy people see the phrase “my wifi’s out”.
I consider those if only cause it may give me an idea of when power will come back on. Ill even drive around to see how much is out or if i can find repair crews.
How much of that is in your control to diagnose, let alone fix? If the neighbours are out too, that means it’s already out of your hands.
When it comes to “the internet is down”, much of the time it is something within your control, whether or not you know that. It’s not a very good analogy imo.
When it comes to “the internet is down”, much of the time it is something within your control
This really isn’t true anymore. Most people use all-in-one modem+router+AP. I’d guess that unless you’re one to tinker with your router, there’s a much better chance you’ve tripped a breaker or GFCI than there is that you’ve somehow broken your home wifi.
I think people care about different things, networking might not be something they’re interested in so aren’t interested in spending time learning about it. Where as when you are interested in it it’s not so hard to read, watch videos about it and experiment with it. At least that’s generally how I find these things work.
My favourite thing is to hear people talk about having ‘great WiFi’ as if that is an internet connection.
I used to work for spectrum. I’d say around 60% of people legit do not know the difference between wifi and Internet. No wifi means no Internet, to them. Makes some trouble shooting harder
I hate that people refer to ethernet, unironically as a “wifi cable”.
It hurts my soul.
Them: “The WiFi is down.”
Me: ‘… No, I still see the TV & the laptop & Pi, on the network.’
Them: “I can’t connect to Flipboard.”
Me: ‘Ohhh, the internet is down. It’s probably at the cable modem. Wait a moment for it to failover to wireless, then try again.’
Them: “Yep, now the WiFi is back.”
‘Ohhh, the internet is down.’
One could argue that’s not right either 😉
Pedantic but correct. Only your connection to the internet is down.
Even when there are massive “internet outages” sometimes it’s just DNS being bad. The internet works just fine, it’s just not working in a way that you can make use of it.
Most consumer devices these days, if they detect the internet is down over a wifi connection (e.g. by inability to reach
1.1.1.1), will automatically disconnect from that wifi network, or at least show the same UI as if it had.And you want to explain the difference, then decide it’s not worth the effort.
I really don’t understand why it’s such a common confusion. None of these people struggle with the difference between their gas supply and their oven.
But when your electricity goes out, do you even consider whether it’s the power plant, substation, distribution station, or individual service drop that is the problem? Probably not. But I’m sure many power line technicians see the phrase “my power’s out” in the same way tech-savvy people see the phrase “my wifi’s out”.
I consider those if only cause it may give me an idea of when power will come back on. Ill even drive around to see how much is out or if i can find repair crews.
How much of that is in your control to diagnose, let alone fix? If the neighbours are out too, that means it’s already out of your hands.
When it comes to “the internet is down”, much of the time it is something within your control, whether or not you know that. It’s not a very good analogy imo.
This really isn’t true anymore. Most people use all-in-one modem+router+AP. I’d guess that unless you’re one to tinker with your router, there’s a much better chance you’ve tripped a breaker or GFCI than there is that you’ve somehow broken your home wifi.
If all the food in my fridge is warm I don’t immediately assume my electricity has been cut off rather than something is wrong with my fridge.
I think people care about different things, networking might not be something they’re interested in so aren’t interested in spending time learning about it. Where as when you are interested in it it’s not so hard to read, watch videos about it and experiment with it. At least that’s generally how I find these things work.
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