Wi-Fi at Home

The router connects your home to your internet provider. Phones and laptops talk to the router over Wi-Fi or a cable. The router forwards their messages outward and brings answers back.

Without a router, each device would need its own separate internet line. Sharing one connection saves money and lets everyone browse at home.

Step through the animation. Watch a tablet's search request leave the bedroom, hit the router, then continue toward the search company.

Thick walls weaken Wi-Fi. Moving closer to the router or using a cable can help. Everyone on the same router shares bandwidth, so a huge download in one room can slow video in another.

Guest networks let visitors online without sharing your main password. Schools use similar ideas with separate student and staff networks.

Next you will see how names become numbers after the message leaves home.

Change default router passwords with a grown-up's help. Strange devices on the network list might mean a neighbour connected without permission.

The DNS topic next explains how your tablet finds websites once the router sends messages out.

Knowing your home setup makes later internet topics less mysterious.