What is a wifi

What is a wifi

WiFi is a technology that uses radio waves to provide network connectivity. A WiFi connection is established using a wireless adapter to create hotspots - areas in the vicinity of a wireless router that are connected to the network and allow users to access internet services. Once configured, WiFi provides wireless connectivity to your devices by emitting frequencies between 2.4GHz - 5GHz, based on the amount of data on the network.

History

In 1971, ALOHAnet connected the Hawaiian Islands with a UHF wireless packet network. ALOHAnet and the ALOHA protocol were early forerunners to Ethernet, and later the IEEE 802.11 protocols, respectively. A 1985 ruling by the U.S. Federal Communications Commission released the ISM band for unlicensed use. These frequency bands are the same ones used by equipment such as microwave ovens and are subject to interference. In 1991, NCR Corporation with AT&T Corporation invented the precursor to 802.11, intended for use in cashier systems, under the name WaveLAN. The Australian radio-astronomer Dr John O'Sullivan with his colleagues Terence Percival, Graham Daniels, Diet Ostry, and John Deane developed a key patent used in Wi-Fi as a by-product of a Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) research project, "a failed experiment to detect exploding mini black holes the size of an atomic particle". Dr O'Sullivan and his colleagues are credited with inventing Wi-Fi. In 1992 and 1996, CSIRO obtained patents for a method later used in Wi-Fi to "unsmear" the signal. The first version of the 802.11 protocol was released in 1997, and provided up to 2 Mbit/s link speeds. This was updated in 1999 with 802.11b to permit 11 Mbit/s link speeds, and this proved to be popular. In 1999, the Wi-Fi Alliance formed as a trade association to hold the Wi-Fi trademark under which most products are sold. Wi-Fi uses a large number of patents held by many different organizations. In April 2009, 14 technology companies agreed to pay CSIRO $1 billion for infringements on CSIRO patents. This led to Australia labeling Wi-Fi as an Australian invention, though this has been the subject of some controversy. CSIRO won a further $220 million settlement for Wi-Fi patent-infringements in 2012 with global firms in the United States required to pay the CSIRO licensing rights estimated to be worth an additional $1 billion in royalties. In 2016, the wireless local area network Test Bed was chosen as Australia's contribution to the exhibition A History of the World in 100 Objects held in the National Museum of Australia.

What is a wifi

Introduction to WiFi

Wi-Fi is a wireless networking technology that allows computers and other devices to communicate over a wireless signal. It describes network components that are based on one of the 802.11 standards developed by the IEEE and adopted by the Wi-Fi Alliance. Examples of Wi-Fi standards, in chronological order, include:

802.11a

802.11a is an IEEE standard for transmitting data over a wireless network. It uses a 5 GHz frequency band and supports data transfer rates of 54 Mbps, or 6.75 megabytes per second.

The 802.11a standard was released in 1999, around the same time as 802.11b. While 802.11b only supported a data transfer rate of 11 Mbps, most routers and wireless cards at that time were manufactured using the 802.11b standard. Therefore, 802.11b remained more popular than 802.11a for several years. In 2003, the 802.11a standard was superseded by 802.11g, which uses the same 2.4 GHz band as 802.11a, but supports transfer rates of up to 54 Mbps.

NOTE: In order for a an 802.11a connection to take place, each device on the wireless network must support the 802.11a standard. For example, if a base station broadcasts an 802.11a signal, only computers with Wi-Fi cards that support 802.11a will be able to recognize the base station. While many routers are backwards compatible with older standards, it may be necessary to manually configure some routers to work with older 802.11a and 802.11b devices.

What is a wifi

802.11b

802.11b is a Wi-Fi standard developed by the IEEE for transmitting data over a wireless network. It operates on a 2.4 GHz band and allows for wireless data transfers up to 11 Mbps. A faster standard, called 802.11g, was introduced a few years after 802.11b and supports data transfer rates up to 54 Mbps. This can make a difference in the speed of data transfers within a local network, but since broadband Internet access is limited to around 5 Mbps, a 802.11b wireless connection will not be a bottleneck for Internet access. Most wireless networks are based on either 802.11b or 802.11g.

802.11g

802.11g is a Wi-Fi standard developed by the IEEE for transmitting data over a wireless network. It operates on a 2.4 GHz bandwidth and supports data transfer rates up to 54 Mbps. 802.11g is backward compatible with 802.11b hardware, but if there are any 802.11b-based computers on the network, the entire network will have to run at 11 Mbps (the max speed that 802.11b supports). However, you can configure your 802.11g wireless router to only accept 802.11g devices, which will ensure your network runs at its top speed.

802.11n

802.11n is a wireless (Wi-Fi) standard that was introduced in 2007. It supports a longer range and higher wireless transfer rates than the previous standard, 802.11g.

802.11n devices support MIMO (multiple in, multiple out) data transfers, which can transmit multiple streams of data at once. This technology effectively doubles the range of a wireless device. Therefore, a wireless router that uses 802.11n may have twice the radius of coverage as an 802.11g router. This means a single 802.11n router may cover an entire household, whereas an 802.11g router might require additional routers to bridge the signal.

The previous 802.11g standard supported transfer rates of up to 54 Mbps. Devices that use 802.11n can transfer data over 100 Mbps. With an optimized configuration, the 802.11n standard can theoretically support transfer rates of up to 500 Mbps. That is five times faster than a standard 100Base-T wired Ethernet network.

So if your residence is not wired with an Ethernet network, it's not a big deal. Wireless technology can finally keep pace with the wired network. Of course, with the faster speeds and larger range that 802.11n provides, it is more important than ever to password protect your wireless network.

What is a wifi

802.11ac

802.11ac (also called 5G Wi-Fi) is the fifth generation of Wi-Fi technology, standardized by the IEEE. It is an evolution of the previous standard, 802.11n, that provides greater bandwidth and more simultaneous spatial streams. This allows 802.11ac devices to support data transfer rates that are several times faster than those of 802.11n devices.

Unlike previous Wi-Fi standards, which operated at a 2.4 GHz frequency, 802.11ac operates exclusively on a 5 GHz frequency band. This prevents interference with common 2.4 GHz devices, such as cordless phones, baby monitors, and older wireless routers. Computers and mobile devices that support 802.11ac will benefit from the 5 GHz bandwidth, but older wireless devices can still communicate with with an 802.11ac router at a slower speed.

The initial draft of the 802.11ac standard was approved in 2012, but 802.11ac hardware was not released until 2013. The initial 802.11ac standard (wave 1) supports a maximum data transfer rate of 1300 Mbps, or 1.3 Gbps, using 3 spatial streams. This is significantly faster than 802.11n's maximum speed of 450 Mbps. It also means 802.11ac is the first Wi-Fi standard that has the potential to be faster than Gigabit Ethernet. The second 802.11ac standard (wave 2) will support twice the bandwidth of wave 1 devices and offer data transfer rates of up to 3470 Mbps.

Wi-Fi is the standard way computers connect to wireless networks. Nearly all modern computers have built-in Wi-Fi chips that allows users to find and connect to wireless routers. Most mobile devices, video game systems, and other standalone devices also support Wi-Fi, enabling them to connect to wireless networks as well. When a device establishes a Wi-Fi connection with a router, it can communicate with the router and other devices on the network. However, the router must be connected to the Internet (via a DSL or cable modem) in order to provide Internet access to connected devices. Therefore, it is possible to have a Wi-Fi connection, but no Internet access.

Since Wi-Fi is a wireless networking standard, any device with a "Wi-Fi Certified" wireless card should be recognized by any "Wi-Fi Certified" access point, and vice-versa. However, wireless routers can be configured to only work with a specific 802.11 standard, which may prevent older equipment from communicating with the router. For example, an 802.11n router can be configured to only work with 802.11n devices. If this option is chosen, devices with 802.11g Wi-Fi chips will not be able to connect to the router, even though they are Wi-Fi certified.

NOTE: The name "Wi-Fi" is similar to "Hi-Fi," which is short for "High Fidelity." However, "Wi-Fi" is not short for "Wireless Fidelity," but is simply a name chosen by the Wi-Fi Alliance.

What is a wifi

What are Hotspot?

The term hotspot is used to define an area where WiFi access is available. It can either be through a closed wireless network at home or in public places such as restaurants or airports. In order to access hotspots, your computer should include a wireless adapter. If you are using an advanced laptop model, it will probably include a built-in wireless transmitter already. If it doesn't, you can purchase a wireless adapter that will plug into the PCI slot or USB port. Once installed, your system should automatically detect the WiFi hotspots and request connection. If not, you should use a software to handle this task for you.

Connect To WiFi Via Modem

To start a connection with a wireless router, you must first ensure that it is plugged into the internet connection point. Turn on your external modem before plugging the router into your computer via an Ethernet cable. Then, switch on your wireless router and open your internet browser.

You will be asked to enter in a router IP address. This IP address will vary, depending on the service you use. Users using Belkin should enter http://192.168.0.1.. If you are a Linksys user, enter http://192.168.1.1. If you're not using either service, enter code http://192.168.2.1.

Now fill in your router's username and password. Set your SSID (wireless capability) as active, and then type in the username and password provided by your ISP and select either WEP or WPA security. Choose a new passkey to finish the WiFi configuration.

What is a wifi