No, Chromebooks do not require an internet connection. However, you must be prepared for using a Chromebook offline. We have downloaded Google Apps that allow the use of creating and editing Word, Excel and Powerpoint documents for example. These can be saved to Google Drive locally while offline (meaning not connected to the internet) and when you connect to the Internet, all files will automatically sync with your Google Drive in the Cloud so that now your documents are not only backed up, but accessible from any computer that you log on to with your Google ID.