Rocket waves a mouse with no cable. "How does it talk to the laptop?" he asks. "There is nothing joining them!" He moves it, and the pointer follows.
Raven looks around the bay. "What do you notice? The music player has no cable either, and it still plays."
Nova glows softly. "Would you like a hint? I talk to the station with no wires too. The road is still there. You just cannot see it."
A wireless connection uses radio waves instead of a cable. Radio waves are invisible.
A tiny radio inside the device sends pulses through the air. Another radio catches them.
Wi-Fi is one kind of wireless. It joins a device to a router, and the router joins the internet.
Short-range wireless joins small things like a mouse, headphones or a game controller. It only reaches across a room.
| Connection | Uses | How far |
|---|---|---|
| Cable | Wires | As long as the cable |
| Wi-Fi | Radio waves | Around a home |
| Short-range wireless | Radio waves | Across a room |
Radio waves get weaker as they travel. Walls and floors soak some of them up.
A device far from the router gets a weak signal. A weak signal means slow or dropped connections.
Moving closer to the router often helps. So does moving out from behind a thick wall.
A wireless mouse or controller also needs power. It has a battery that a grown-up changes or charges.
| Statement | True or false? |
|---|---|
| Wireless connections use radio waves. | ? |
| Radio waves get stronger the farther they travel. | ? |
| Walls can weaken a Wi-Fi signal. | ? |
| A kid changes the battery in a wireless mouse. | ? |
Excellent noticing! You can see the invisible road now. Tomorrow you will put the whole connection story together.