Mobile broadband in the context of Wireless device

Internet access is a facility or service that provides connectivity for a computer, a computer network, or other network device to the Internet, and for individuals or organizations to access or use applications such as email and the World Wide Web. Internet access is offered for sale by an international hierarchy of Internet service providers (ISPs) using various networking technologies. At the retail level, many organizations, including municipal entities, also provide cost-free access to the general public. Types of connections range from fixed-line cable (such as DSL and fiber optic) to mobile (via cellular) and satellite.

The availability of Internet access to the general public began with the commercialization of the early Internet in the early 1990s, and has grown with the availability of useful applications, such as the World Wide Web. In 1995, only 0.04 percent of the world's population had access, with well over half of those living in the United States and consumer use was through dial-up. By the first decade of the 21st century, many consumers in developed nations used faster broadband technology. By 2014, 41 percent of the world's population had access, broadband was almost ubiquitous worldwide, and global average connection speeds exceeded one megabit per second.

Wireless communication (or just wireless, when the context allows) is the transfer of information (telecommunication) between two or more points without the use of an electrical conductor, optical fiber or other continuous guided medium for the transfer. The most common wireless technologies use radio waves. With radio waves, intended distances can be short, such as a few meters for Bluetooth, or as far as millions of kilometers for deep-space radio communications. It encompasses various types of fixed, mobile, and portable applications, including two-way radios, cellular telephones, and wireless networking. Other examples of applications of radio wireless technology include GPS units, garage door openers, wireless computer mice, keyboards and headsets, headphones, radio receivers, satellite television, broadcast television and cordless telephones. Somewhat less common methods of achieving wireless communications involve other electromagnetic phenomena, such as light and magnetic or electric fields, or the use of sound.

The term wireless has been used twice in communications history, with slightly different meanings. It was initially used from about 1890 for the first radio transmitting and receiving technology, as in wireless telegraphy, until the new word radio replaced it around 1920. Radio sets in the UK and the English-speaking world that were not portable continued to be referred to as wireless sets into the 1960s. The term wireless was revived in the 1980s and 1990s mainly to distinguish digital devices that communicate without wires, such as the examples listed in the previous paragraph, from those that require wires or cables. This became its primary usage in the 2000s, due to the advent of technologies such as mobile broadband, Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth.

A mobile broadband modem, also known as wireless modem or cellular modem, is a type of modem that allows a personal computer or a router to receive wireless Internet access via a mobile broadband connection instead of using telephone or cable television lines. A mobile Internet user can connect using a wireless modem to a wireless Internet service provider (ISP) to get Internet access.

Wireless broadband is a telecommunications technology that provides high-speed wireless Internet access or computer networking access over a wide area. The term encompasses both fixed and mobile broadband.

Starlink is a satellite internet constellation operated by Starlink Services, LLC, an international telecommunications provider that is a wholly owned subsidiary of American aerospace company SpaceX, providing coverage to around 150 countries and territories. It also aims to provide global mobile broadband. Starlink has been instrumental to SpaceX's growth.

SpaceX began launching Starlink satellites in 2019. As of May 2025, the constellation consists of over 7,600 mass-produced satellites in low Earth orbit (LEO) that communicate with designated ground transceivers. Starlink comprises 65% of all active satellites. Nearly 12,000 satellites are planned, with a possible later extension to 34,400. SpaceX announced reaching over 1 million subscribers in December 2022, 4 million subscribers in September 2024 and 8 million subscribers in November 2025.

4G refers to the fourth generation of cellular network technology, introduced in the late 2000s and early 2010s. Compared to preceding third-generation (3G) technologies, 4G has been designed to support all-IP communications and broadband services, and eliminates circuit switching in voice telephony. It also has considerably higher data bandwidth compared to 3G, enabling a variety of data-intensive applications such as high-definition media streaming and the expansion of Internet of Things (IoT) applications.

The earliest deployed technologies marketed as "4G" were Long Term Evolution (LTE), developed by the 3GPP group, and Mobile Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (Mobile WiMAX), based on IEEE specifications. These provided significant enhancements over previous 3G and 2G.

In communications systems, the return channel (also reverse channel or return link) is the transmission link from a user terminal to the central hub. Return links are often, but not always, slower than the corresponding forward links. Examples where this is true include asymmetric digital subscriber line, cable modems, mobile broadband and satellite internet access.

The return channel need not use the same medium as the main channel. For example, some hybrid Internet access services use a one-way cable television system for the forward channel and a dial-up modem for the return channel. Even when the return and forward channels use the same medium, their differences often dictate the use of very different data modulation and coding techniques. For example, in a star radio network, only the central hub transmits on the forward link, so channel access method is a consideration only on the return link.