What the hell is Wi-Fi?

Answer 1

To make it simple, its no more than a wireless router! Wi Fi access points are popping up all over! Coffee shops, motels, etc. Its simply an internet connection that has a wireless router on it.

Answer 2

Wi-Fi refers to 802.11 wireless networking. It is modelled after the Hi-Fi term coined 50 years ago! You may see it used interchangeably with 802.11a, 802.11b, 802.11G or others. Basically all of these create a high speed wireless network that extends 25-150 feet (typ) from any wireless router and provide Ethernet LAN like performance but over the air. A hundred or more PCs and Laptops can share this wireless 'cell'.

Answer 3

Short for wireless fidelity and is meant to be used generically when referring of any type of 802.11 network, whether 802.11b, 802.11a, dual-band, etc. The term is promulgated by the Wi-Fi Alliance.

Any products tested and approved as "Wi-Fi Certified" (a registered trademark) by the Wi-Fi Alliance are certified as interoperable with each other, even if they are from different manufacturers. A user with a "Wi-Fi Certified" product can use any brand of access point with any other brand of client hardware that also is certified. Typically, however, any Wi-Fi product using the same radio frequency (for example, 2.4GHz for 802.11b or 11g, 5GHz for 802.11a) will work with any other, even if not "Wi-Fi Certified."

Formerly, the term "Wi-Fi" was used only in place of the 2.4GHz 802.11b standard, in the same way that "Ethernet" is used in place of IEEE 802.3. The Alliance expanded the generic use of the term in an attempt to stop confusion about wireless LAN interoperability.

Hotspot (Wi-Fi)

Hotspots are venues that offer Wi-Fi access. The public can use their laptop, PDA, or Dual-mode phone to access the Internet.

For venues that have broadband service, offering wireless access is as simple as purchasing one AP and connecting the AP with the gateway box. Hotspots are often found at restaurants, train stations, airports, libraries, coffee shops, bookstores, fuel stations, department stores, supermarkets and other public places. Many universities and schools have wireless networks in their campus.

Answer 4

I didn't know myself. I had to look it up.


Wi-Fi




- Wi-Fi (short for "wireless fidelity") is a term for certain types of wireless local area network (WLAN) that use specifications in the 802.11 family. The term Wi-Fi was created by an organization called the Wi-Fi Alliance, which oversees tests that certify product interoperability. A product that passes the alliance tests is given the label "Wi-Fi certified" (a registered trademark).
Originally, Wi-Fi certification was applicable only to products using the 802.11b standard. Today, Wi-Fi can apply to products that use any 802.11 standard. The 802.11 specifications are part of an evolving set of wireless network standards known as the 802.11 family. The particular specification under which a Wi-Fi network operates is called the "flavor" of the network. Wi-Fi has gained acceptance in many businesses, agencies, schools, and homes as an alternative to a wired LAN. Many airports, hotels, and fast-food facilities offer public access to Wi-Fi networks. These locations are known as hot spots. Many charge a daily or hourly rate for access, but some are free. An interconnected area of hot spots and network access points is known as a hot zone.

Unless adequately protected, a Wi-Fi network can be susceptible to access by unauthorized users who use the access as a free Internet connection. The activity of locating and exploiting security-exposed wireless LANs is called war driving. An identifying iconography, called war chalking, has evolved. Any entity that has a wireless LAN should use security safeguards such as the Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP) encryption standard, the more recent Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA), Internet Protocol Security (IPsec), or a virtual private network (VPN).

Answer 5

It is like Hi - fi, but without the wires!
Anything you can use that has wires can now be bought to run wireless!

Answer 6

It is an internet connection that requires no wire to connect you to the phone line. The internet service company sends signals throughout your house and using a computer (usually a laptop) that has a wireless receiver, you connect to the internet anywhere. Commonly called wireless.

Answer 7

it is an short hand for wireless fitality basically it is wireless signals for internet and sharing files

Answer 8

wow you can't spend 5 seconds on wikipedia?