What's the difference between Wi-Fi and mobile Internet (2G, 3G, 3G+ or 4G)?

What's the difference between Wi-Fi and mobile Internet (2G, 3G, 3G+ or 4G)? 

Surfing via Wi-Fi is cheaper than surfing via mobile Internet, but Wi-Fi coverage is limited to a building or a district.

Domestic Wi-Fi network (when you surf wirelessly at home)Wi-Fi uses a local wireless network to transfer information.

Its coverage is therefore limited to a building (pub, airport, etc.) or a public space. Access can be private or public, paying or free of charge, open for Internet or not.

To surf on your phone, you must have a Wi-Fi device.

To surf on your computer, you must have a Wi-Fi modem or a computer with a built-in Wi-Fi modem.

Mobile Internet (when you surf on the 4G network)Mobile Internet (when you surf on the 2G, 3G or 3G+ network)Mobile Internet (2G, 3G, 3G+ or 4G) uses a mobile telephony network to send and receive data.

With your SIM card, you access the Internet everywhere in Belgium and abroad.

To surf on your phone, you must have a 2G, 3G or 4G device.

To surf on your computer, you must have an external USB modem or a computer with a built-in mobile modem.

In all cases: choose an Internet price plan or option to pay less.

Your device will automatically connect to the best mobile network available. It may happen that you switch from one network to the other.

With Proximus you can use the following mobile Internet networks: 2G (GPRS or EDGE), 3G (UMTS), 3G+ (HSDPA or HSPA+) and 4G (LTE).

With 2G

With GPRS (General Packet Radio Service), you have a theoretical transfer speed of max. 50 Kbps.

With EDGE (Enhanced Data Rates for GSM Evolution), you have a theoretical transfer speed of max. 250 Kbps.

With 3G or UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System), you have a theoretical transfer speed of max. 384 Kbps.

With 3G+

With HSDPA (High-Speed Downlink Packet Access), you have a theoretical transfer speed of max. 7.2 Mbps.

With HSPA+ (High-Speed Packet Access +), you have a theoretical transfer speed of max. 42 Mbps.

With 4G or LTE (Long Term Evolution), you have a theoretical transfer speed of max. 129 Mbps.