You have to have something. We were on an 'air card' for a couple years. It's basically a cell phone that connects to your computer to access the internet. Now we have internet-only cable, and I think that there are dish options for internet access.

I also have internet-only cable, with no landline.

do you mean that a house hardwired for a phone just not connecting a phone to it? the same wiring is then used just for the internet (no phone)?

I have 2 cables to the phone jack in my room - 1 is the phone cable and 1 is the internet cable... I unplug the phone (for those who don't want a landline) and then just have the cable from the jack to my modem (and router)?

someone moving into a house would just subscribe to internet svc from the phone co but no phone svc? just run the cable from jack to modem (and router or modem/router combo)?

While she only has a cell phone, I'm sure the house must still have the old phone wiring / jack.

jay, I've never heard of the 'air card' thing. I'm sure she doesn't have a dish or even cable (probably not) but the house must have the old 'not being used' phone wiring/jack in place.

I know a lot of people keep their landline 'cause it's cheaper to bundle internet svc with the phone svc. I keep mine 'cause I want a solid landline - don't like cell phones much.

thx for all the input!

Any cable/internet service provider in the area should be able to help. I haven't had a landline in more than 10 years but have had wifi service all that time. And I live in a rental.

I don't know many folks any more who DO have landlines. Or that use them if they do.

I don't know many folks any more who DO have landlines. Or that use them if they do.

that's me. landline, no cell phone. I have 1 in a box... should probably make it work soon too. I find it's hard to understand a lot of what people are saying on a cell phone. a lot of mumbling... whether it's them, the phone or the combo, I spend a lot of time asking them to repeat what they are saying. don't have that problem on the landline.

As long as cable is available in her area it should be easy, even if she doesn't have cable tv. Usually it's very much faster than internet that uses phone lines, too. (I'm stuck with ATT's U-verse and it's the worst internet ever.)

ETA Your post title about getting "wifi" makes me think maybe this should be clarified, just to be sure: Most of the time you get some kind of wired connection into your house, then your router or modem broadcasts your wifi signal within the house.

Don't overlook her local phone company. If the wire is in the house she should be able to get internet through the jack on the wall. Hard to say what she'll pay for just internet. It might even be cheaper to bundle a phone on it. She wouldn't have to plug the phone in. I live in the boonies and have a land line with DSL. My total phone bill runs about $65 a month. That is just telephone and internet.

Yes, to reiterate- Wifi is within the home. For example, we have a cable modem in the basement, and a wifi unit plugged into it. The wifi broadcasts to any wifi enabled device in the house, including our smart TV. The wifi modem could get internet from a phone line or cable. The air card we had was mounted directly on the computer, and only enabled internet access to that one computer. As was said, if you go over your data usage, it gets VERY expensive. We weren't able to get DSL- the phone company said that there wasn't enough capacity in the area.

How I remember those days, mushcreek! I lived a couple of feet past the cut off point even though there was a substation that took over where that couple of feet left off. It didn't serve ME! so I couldn't get anything from it. But now the phone company has seen the light and for the past ?? years we have everything out here that they have in town. All things come to those who wait? And back in the day of dial up and you paid for each computer...

those with routers, what kind do you have? I've been checking them out online - I'm mostly looking at netgear... have you had good / consistent coverage with your router?

gotta go to the bank. will check back in a few hours.

Steph with my internet company they provide the router they want you to use. They used to charge for it but now they do not. Mine has been replaced three times. I do not know what is going wrong with them. they seem to start cutting my internet off. They can see it from their end. Usually I am complaining about it before they notice it.

I am not on DSL here. I actually have the internet wire directly to the house under ground and it comes up through the floor. Then there is also a phone line. Neither are interchangeable. I would not try to buy a router with out checking with your internet company or buy one from friend. I guess not all routers work with all systems. Not sure on that.

Steph - I think you need someone with technical expertise in your specific locality to give you a hand. You'll want someone local who knows what services are available and what would make the most sense for your friend as far as cost vs performance that he or she needs.

Wifi isn't something that you just get and access the internet with - alone it isn't connected at all- it's just a way to allow you to access your existing internet connection with various devices that are able to receive a wireless signal. Without Wifi you can still access the internet if you have a connection - you just need a device (like most desktop and laptop computers) that can be hooked directly up to what ever type of modem you are using. So, first you need to have an actual internet connection of some sort and that means finding out who are your local providers. It doesn't have to be through a land phone line - in fact few these days are because that is very slow. Most people have one of the following

1) a cable modem - internet service is often bundled with cable

2) a satellite connection - also often bundled with television service

3) a DSL connection

4) a cellular connection- this can be a stand alone device or some phones can be used as wifi "hotspots"

5) if you are really lucky your neighborhood has fiber optic available.. *but* this is likely to be a fairly expensive option and unless your are using a lot of bandwidth - watching a lot of streaming video and the like, it's probably not going to be the most cost effective method.

I have an antenna tv, no cable, no home phone and I have wifi internet through a router provided by the company that bills me for the internet, which happens to be our phone company. I agree it's better to get the router from whomever is providing the internet. Not all routers work for wifi. It costs me about $40/month.

"we have a cable modem in the basement, and a wifi unit plugged into it"

jay, that gives me hope that I won't need to keep the modem and router in my bedroom! I can put it in one of my other bedrooms (one I call the 'tv room' - It will someday be that). I could connect the modem and router in there (out of my way) and still have internet access about half way across the house in my bedroom. that'd be great!

that air card doesn't sound like something I'd want or want for my friend. We'd both blow right over any limits I'm sure!

"I live in the boonies and have a land line with DSL. My total phone bill runs about $65 a month. That is just telephone and internet."

I'm happy - same with me. I'm out in the desert and have DSL and pay about the same. My friend lives in a very small town. She mostly lives with her elderly (88) mother. but, she often stays with a family friend who is disabled and needs help. Her mom does have a landline. I could call the phone co there and ask if the in town houses with landlines also have internet access. I'll do that on Monday.

writersblock - I called my phone co about 2 wks ago to see how those 'wifi critters' get into my house... the tech guy told me I was good to go with the internet connection I have. that I just need a router and he gave me some info to help me pick one. I do have more technical questions for him since I've been looking at them and will call him again on Monday. I think it's probably like the modem, if they provide it, they charge me each month for its use. I bought the modem on my own because I didn't want to pay them every month for it. OTOH, these days I also don't want the problem of dealing with it should it ever die...

stringweaver - I don't want to do anything that could accidently cause her to run up a big bill. She sure can't afford it, and I don't want to pay it - lol! I wouldn't want that for myself 'cause I'd probably run up a bill too.

She lives within the town boundaries, so maybe there's a good chance they have DSL. I hope. I will also ask her if they have cable or dish. I think that isn't likely, but maybe her mom likes to watch a lot of tv. I know my friend doesn't but I don't know about her mother.

shades - "my internet company they provide the router they want you to use. They used to charge for it but now they do not. Mine has been replaced three times."

I'd better ask my phone co about that. they were particular about what modem I'd buy but weren't about the router. The tech guy did give me guidelines to go by tho. in the reviews on a lot of the routers, they often seem to work for a few months and then die, or keep dropping off the internet. a lot of really good reviews and then a number of really bad ones. That is confusing.

e p - I don't think she has ever had internet access - or a home computer. She has had a cell phone - but I don't think a smart phone. She got a tablet for Christmas and I'm attempting to figure out how she can have access to use it. She's even less internet access smart than I am!

and while I have posted that I don't think they have cable or a dish... the more I think about it, what's available to watch without one of those? not much! so, I hope I am wrong and they do have 1 or the other in the house - or at least DSL (which I have in my house).

I could be wrong, so jump in and let me know if I am on this - I don't think a tablet connects to an internet line without wifi... is that correct or not? I know very little about tablets... I hope I'm wrong on that too!

I'll try to call her again Sunday or Monday and ask if they have cable, a dish or DSL. I wanted to surprise her with 'access' to use it but I don't think I'm going to be able to keep it a surprise.

thx for all of the info on internet / wifi access. can I use this toward a degree of some kind? lol!

Don't confuse yourself about DSL. It's not what I think you think.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_subscriber_line

I have an antenna for over the air TV which I rarely almost never watch any more. There are plenty of free over the air channels. A subscription tv service is not necessary. If she already has one, then check for internet access from that service.

The best thing to do is contact her local telephone or if she does have a cable/dish/whatever provider. They will supply a modem/router. Best thing to do. They may or may not come to her house and get her hooked up. IF not, you probably better find someone who can do that for her. Perhaps the local school has a class/teacher who can help you find someone. There might be a computer store who has someone who will do it for her for a fee. You might even check to see if there is a local computer store that would do the whole thing for you. And don't forget to check the price of internet if it could be bundled with telephone/tv service.

You would ask for internet access for her. They will tell you what options they offer. Write it down so you know which company said what. Yes, her tablet will need internet access if she is going to surf the web or email. Your options will probably be dial up internet, DSL internet or on the remote chance it's a very progressive area, fiber optic internet. Wifi is only how the connection among your toys is received by them. It's possible she may have to have a cable hook up between her tablet and a phone jack. You won't know these things until you know what she has. Wifi is an invisible connection that connects computer, printers, scanners, etc. Everything I have uses the same little Wifi modem that sits here on my desk. It communicates sort of like a tv remote control. You can't see it but it's there.

As far as the tablet goes, you are correct. Tablet computers don't
usually have a port for a wired internet connection (an ethernet port)
so if you want to access the internet with one you do need a Wifi
connection - BUT - as I said before Wifi is not in itself a connection
to the internet, think of it as an invisible cable and a cable
that's not plugged into anything won't do anything.

Is the town she lives in big enough to have a Best Buy? I definitely don't think you are going to be able to keep this a surprise..... I would recommend that if it does that you take her and a list of what she's already got in her home as far as television, phone and or internet service, take the device she wants to connect and think of what she might want to do on the internet once she can connect - will she just want to send email and look at sites like this? Might she want to watch movies? This will help them get an idea of how much data she might use in any given month will make a difference as to what sort of service she might buy - and remember that internet access is a monthly paid service, it's an add on to any phone, cable or dish subscription, so this won't just be a one time expense to buy a Wifi base station unless she already has internet service that she is paying for.

Here's my modem with everything connected to it. The taller thing beside it is my back up device. I have the 800# for the phone company taped to my modem to save me looking it up. I have 4 computers, two printers, a tablet, and my backup running through this. It connects through a telephone jack on the wall. One computer is up stairs.

It's not always this messy. Well, it's always at least this messy. If I've been working on a hot trail it can be a lot worse. But this sits behind my copy holder, out of sight, and I don't take very good care of it. This is my work desk and it does get to the point that I can't find it for the stuff piled on top!

e p - "think of what she might want to do on the internet once she can connect "

she's not real into doing stuff on a computer (tho yrs ago she operated one where she worked - back in the 70s). it's very doubtful she'll be on forums. Her main use would be email and Skype - and looking things up to find out what they are, where they are, get more info on them. It'll be a good thing for her to use to catch up with the world. she moved to her parents house yrs back to take care of her dying father. After he died she was in a coma for several months. more recently she had surgery for cancer and is recouping from that now. She's been pretty isolated there taking care of her dad, being sick herself and taking care of things for her mom. her kids and gkids live in another state.

the town she is in isn't big enough to have a BB. I think they do have a W tho - lol! I know they don't have internet svc now, 1 landline (her mom's) and a tv. the internet svc and router are on me. how else can she email me? lol! It'll be much easier to keep in contact with her this way. We can talk for hours on the phone - but my hand gets tired and we both have to take potty breaks - lol! and she can keep me up on her kids and gkids... I used to babysit her kids. and my kids helped babysit her kids. She's family.

This is quite confusing - She can email you right now? From her home? If this is the case she has to have access to some sort of internet service or it would be impossible.... She'd have to be going to the library or some other place with public internet terminals. Does her building perhaps have a community room with an internet connected computer?

Skype can actually use a fairly large amount of data - so if you plan to use it with her for hours each day or at least often, you want to think about that as far as data plans go. Going over your limit in data can certainly get expensive.

e p - "She can email you right now? "

no, she can't. I want her to be able to email me and her kids/gkids - and get emails from me and them.

I don't know that their small town even has a library! my small town didn't get one until a few yrs ago - after yrs of 100s of 1000s moving out into the desert around us. Her town has nothing close to that number in population - it's around 8,000. that probably includes outlying population too.

thx for the info on skyping. I didn't know it would be extra. She will have to limit that then. maybe to holidays and birthdays. We wouldn't Skype for hrs. we'd get too tired anyway - lol! and I will have to check that on my end also. I don't want any unexpected charges on my phone bill.

I think if we can regularly email each other, we won't spend so much time on the phone! that would really be better for both of us (and her kids/gkids) and our bladders and my dog. We don't talk that often, so when we do we have so much to tell each and ask each other etc. It's like a verbalathon. (new word)

I haven't had wifi and decided to jump into it - and I want to drag her along with me into it!

I'm happy -

that doesn't look bad for 'computer' stuff. especially with 4 computers, 2 printers etc! mine is so much worse and I only have 1 computer set up. I guess I'd have to say I have many of them... but most are boxed up. 1 is new and not set up yet and 1 is a laptop (not in use yet either). I have to find out how to transfer stuff from the old to the new yet. I've really taken on more (at one time) than I can handle...

btw - why doesn't your router have 'ears'? I know I've seen them without but why one without over one with? I was told with antennae (external) gives better coverage.

My router doesn't have ears, never has. :) It was what the phone company installed when I originally got fiber optics and cable tv. But I decided this past February that I wasn't watching all the channels afforded me, so I got an outside (roof) antenna and bought a DVR from the same company and now pay nothing!!! I have plenty to watch and can still record shows and pause live tv which really comes in handy as Carmelita always chooses a time when I am watching something good to decide she needs to go potty. :) It was a bit of an initial investment - about $700, but it paid for itself in about 4 months!

If the outside antenna helps the wifi, so much the better!! I have one laptop, a printer, a Kindle, an iPad and an iPhone. That's a lot of technology and probably more than I need, but the iPad and Kindle were gifts from my sister-in-law. I love the Kindle and use it all the time. I only just got the iPad and can't really see a "need" for it since I have my laptop. Time will tell.

why doesn't your router have 'ears'?

Older models and cheaper ones have ears. Newer models have better internal antennas.

I don't skype so I don't understand the data limit. I have unlimited internet access. I pay a flat price. I'm not familiar with data plans because I've never bought one. I've heard about them for phones but not internet.

Gosh, I can't imagine a town of 8,000 not having a library! Five little towns around me each have a library. Population town #1 is 160, town #2 is 262, Town #3 is 2,300, town #4 is 1,100 and about 4,000 in town #5. That's 20 mile radius.

I'm happy - I don't Skype either, so also not 'data limit' smart. I was told Skype was free. but that's their access, sounds like the data minutes $s is due to the data svc provider. It's all confusing to me.

my nephew is over visiting my sister - and she'll be leaving next week for 5 days in HI, so he's going to come over and do some things for me (she says). I have lots to be done here since Jed's been so busy this past yr with family problems and work. hoping he'll be able to set up a router for me, put my new tv on the wall, hook up the dvd his mother gave me, kill a bunch of weeds and lots of other things that need done. hopefully, I'll learn a lot from him about data minutes, skyping etc.

my town was 3200 in 2000 - no library. we got one maybe 8-10 yrs ago with pop of around 20,000. pop now is about 34,000. maybe it depends on the anticipated growth for the town. ours knew in 2000 that it was booming.

writersblock - I don't mind the 'ears' if it saves me $s. would rather have the more current technology tho. I didn't think I had much to use the wifi for but as I started counting things up, I'm up to about 5 things to use it. add another if I decide to get roku later this year. another if I break down and buy an echo (tho I have serious doubts on that now since THEY can evidently hear into my house with it). add in a wifi speaker or 2... and I'll be over run with this stuff!

i'll pull up the new Staples ad and see what they have and how much.

Steph, I think each individual town decides if they want a library and how they'll pay for building, furnishing, and employees. Years ago when I was on the library board we had fundraisers until everybody in town got sick to death of us. And we got a grant from Kinney Lindstrom. We got our new library building. Often they are maintained by city taxes and "friends of the library".

that could be how we got ours - tho, I never heard of any fundraisers. I don't know about my friend. I'll try to remember to ask her the next time I talk to her. I'm going to have to make a list of things to ask - otherwise, we get to talking about life over the past 50 yrs and I don't remember the questions until we've hung up!

Does she have a cell phone?

When our son upgraded his phone, we had his old phone added back as a new line for $10 a month so we could use it as a hotspot. ( We were able to turn off our aircard service)

Just wondering if you have a cell plan with unlimited data and an old phone this may be an option.

I don't know what a 'hotspot' is... she has a cell phone she uses. I'm sure she it's limited on time - otherwise, I'm sure we'd talk more.

I decided that I won't be able to figure this all out without her knowing, so I'm just gonna call her and tell her.

In our last house, we had wifi with a dish connection. Now we are using a hotspot. Definitely prefer the dish. This is the first month we haven't used up all our data before the end of the month. Love that february only has 28 days. lol We did use the hot spot on the iphone, but it uses up data quickly. The dedicated hotspot uses it at a more reasonable rate, but nothing beats unlimited. btw, our hotspot is from millenicom. The hotspot device was a little over $100 and the monthly service varies dpending on the amount of data. We started at 6g but are up to 10g now, and it's still not enough unless we watch it carefully and only get on to do research etc.

Most companies now, even AT&T cell coverage, won't charge if you go over, they just cut your speed. Like, we use up our 10g and we still have internet, can check email and websites, but can't load pictures or even load websites with many pictures, and can't watch videos. Videos use a lot of data.

HB - so then you don't have a modem and router now?

do you get internet svc thru at&t?

my phone people said if I buy a router and set it up, it doesn't cost more $ for wifi. I've had it about a month... maybe I should check my phone bill... time to pay it anyway. I've only used it to print stuff.

No, no modem and router now. I'm not the least bit technical, so someone else can explain it better. Basically, it works just like a cell phone, and is about the size of a flip phone. Somewhere near my house, there is a tower with transmitters and receivers on it. My little device connects to the signal from that tower and connects me to the internet. All I have to do is go to settings on my computer and put in the security code to my device and click CONNECT.

And no, it's not through ATT. It uses T-mobile towers. ATT has a hotspot, but it cost more than I am willing to pay.

desertsteff, wifi is the name of the router. Has nothing to do with cost of anything other than the cost of your router. I don't know what you think wifi is but it's only the hardware that your internet connection uses to access the internet. You can plug all your computer stuff into a wired one or you can get wifi aka wireless. This is what a wireless WiFi modem looks like

https://www.google.com/search?biw=1785&bih=924&tbm=isch&sa=1&q=wifi+modem&oq=wifi+modem&gs_l=img.3...9761.13213.0.13909.6.6.0.0.0.0.0.0..0.0....0...1c.1.64.img..6.0.0.dQylSlYYWd0

This is what a wired internet modem looks like https://www.google.com/search?biw=1785&bih=924&tbm=isch&sa=1&q=wired+internet+modem&oq=wired+internet+modem&gs_l=img.12...98031.100446.0.102916.6.6.0.0.0.0.666.666.5-1.1.0....0...1c.1.64.img..5.1.665...0i7i30k1j0i7i5i30k1j0i8i7i30k1.DZT2nbwky3g

Wi-Fi

ˈwīfī/

noun

trademark

noun: WiFi; noun: wifi

1. a
   facility allowing computers, smartphones, or other devices to connect
   to the Internet or communicate with one another wirelessly within a
   particular area.

Origin

1990s: from wireless + an apparently arbitrary second element, after hi-fi; sometimes incorrectly interpreted as a shortening of Wireless Fidelity .