Standing for Wireless Fidelity according to abbreviationfinder.org, Wi-Fi is a wireless communication technologies through waves, also called WLAN (Wireless Lan, Wireless Network) or IEEE 802.11 standard. WI-FI is not an abbreviation for Wireless Fidelity, it is simply a trade name.
History
In 1999 the companies 3com, Airones, Intersil, Lucent Technologies, Nokia and Symbol Technologies met to create an association known as WECA (Wireless Ethernet Compatibility Alliance), which in 2003 was renamed the Wi-Fi Alliance, whose objective was not only the promotion of WiFi technology but to establish standards so that equipment equipped with this wireless technology were compatible with each other.
In April 2000, the first standard was established: WiFi 802.11b, which used the 2.4 Ghz band and reached a speed of 11 Mbps. After this specification came 802.11a, which generated some problems between the United States and Europe over the band. that was used. While in the United States the 5 GHz band was free, in Europe it was reserved for military purposes, a situation that somewhat paralyzed this wireless technology, especially considering that most device manufacturers, mostly North American They were slow to react to the impossibility of selling their products in the old continent.
After much debate, a new specification was approved, 802.11g, which like “b” used the 2.4 GHz band but multiplied the speed up to 54 Mbps]]. At the time when three different specifications coexist in the market, it is the case that they are incompatible, so the next step was to create teams capable of working with all three, jumping “hot” from one to the other, and launched solutions that were labeled “multipoint.” When this is the case, the 5 GHz band, previously reserved for military use, was enabled for civil uses, which was a great advance not only because it offered the highest speed at that time, but because there were no other wireless technologies, such as Bluetooth, Wireless USB or ZigBee that use the same frequency.
They can be found with two types of WI-FI communication: 802.11b, which emits at 11 Mb / sec., And 802.11 g, faster, at 54 MB / sec. Its speed and range (100-150 meters on affordable hardware) make it a perfect formula for wireless Internet access. One of the curiosities of the 802.11n specification is that the products have reached the market before the standard was approved, being called Draft-N, which refers to the fact that they are subject to the draft and not to the definitive standard
The Wi-Fi call
Although the term was thought to come from Wireless Fidelity as equivalent to Hi-Fi, High Fidelity, which is used in sound recording, WECA actually hired an advertising company to give its standard a name. in a way that is easy to identify and remember.
Phil Belanger, a founding member of the Wi-Fi Alliance that endorsed the Wi-Fi name wrote: “Wi-Fi and the Ying Yang” Style logo “were invented by the Interbrand agency. We (WiFi Alliance) hired Interbrand to make us a logo and name that was short, market-friendly and easy to remember. We needed something that was a little more flashy than “IEEE 802.11b Direct Sequence”. Interbrand created names like “Prozac”, “Compaq”, “OneWorld”, “Imation”, to name a few. They even invented a name for the company: VIVATO. ”
Domestic configuration
To have a wireless network at home we will only need an access point, which connects to the modem, and a WI-FI device that would be connected to our device. There are WI-FI terminals that connect to the PC via USB, but PCI cards are recommended, allowing us to save physical work space and faster. There are laptops that we can also find external PCMI cards, although many of the devices are already sold with an integrated card. In either case, it is advisable to keep the access point in a high place so that reception and transmission are more fluid. Even if we find that our speed is not as high as recommended.
How Wi-FI works
The operation of the network is quite simple, normally you will only have to connect the devices and install their Software. Many of the WI-FI routers incorporate configuration tools to control access to the information that is transmitted over the air. In a wireless network, each computer has a wireless network adapter. These adapters are connected by sending and receiving Radio waves through a transceiver (transceiver), which can be located anywhere, indoors or outdoors, within the coverage area, without worrying about wiring.
The wireless networks enable data transmission at speeds of 11 Mbps or even higher, providing fast enough for most applications. It can be said that the Wi-Fi environment is the ideal solution that unifies mobility and connectivity in data transmission, offering a new possibility of “mobile office”, wherever you are.
