Eli5:Why is it that cell phones , with their tiny antenaes are able to download files at LTE speeds inside concrete buildings from cell towers kilometers away yet getting wifi to work behind a corner is an exercise in frustration?
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Because they are working on two very different technologies.
They use different waves of radio frequencies. Cell Phones operate in terms of Mega Hertz, Wifi Operates in terms of Giga Hertz.
Since wifi uses a much higher frequency, when you have a good wifi connection you can transfer way more information much faster than cellular is capable of.
The drawback is that because wifi uses this much faster frequency, it can not travel as far and is blocked relatively easily.
Cellular systems operate at a lower frequency, meaning they can travel further, but have a lower max speed of information transfer.
To give even more context radio, like your car radio, is an even Lower frequency, and can travel dozens to hundreds of miles, but can only move enough information to reliably play audio (and maybe some text information about the song).
TL:DR The higher frequency you go, the faster you can transfer information, but the shorter distance it travels.
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