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WELCOME TO THE FIRST BLOG OF 2025!
Ready for a little education about WiFi and how it works? Good, then we’ll begin…
WiFi(Wi-Fi) is a wireless LAN standard, part of IEEE 802.11, for communication among different devices. It is a kind of radio wave, the same as Bluetooth and cellular networks, used for device communication on a small scale, like for houses, malls, piazzas, etc.
WiFi is the cheapest and fastest way for short-distance transmission enabling web browsing, online gaming, video streaming, and VOIP calling. In 2019, the shipment of WiFi devices surpassed 310 million.
THE ORIGIN OF WiFi
A new wireless communications technology was created by Dr. John O’Sullivan, known as “the father of WiFi”, working for CSIRO in the 1990s.
The Wireless Ethernet Compatibility Alliance (now called Wi-Fi Alliance) tried to ask CSIRO to donate this technology to society for free, but failed. Now every WiFi device maker, like for laptops, cellphones, smart home devices, etc, pays CSIRO for patent royalties.
“Wi-Fi” is merely a trademark claimed by the Wi-Fi Alliance in 1999.
Actually “Wi-Fi” doesn’t mean anything and is not short for wireless fidelity, the facts of which have been proved by Phil Belanger, a founding member of the Wi-Fi Alliance. Now more and more people use “Wi-Fi” as “WiFi”
HOW DOES WiFi WORK?
Wireless connection is basically a two-way communication between a router and a client device. Both are equipped with a radio transmitter and receiver to communicate with each other by sending signals over a radio frequency (2.4 GHz or 5 GHz).
Usually, a WiFi router connects physically to an Ethernet outlet or a DSL/Cable/Satellite modem via a network cable for internet access. It then broadcasts its WiFi name (SSID) to surrounding devices.
When a device intends to join a wireless network, it sends signals to notify the router. Once the router receives and accepts the request, the connection is established.
WHAT IS LAN & WIRELESS LAN?
A LAN stands for a local area network. It consists of two or more devices that are connected by a physical cable or wireless connection in a certain location. Conversely, a WAN, or a wide area network, covers multiple geographical areas. The most familiar example of WAN is probably the internet.
For a WiFi router, LAN ports are designed for local connection while a WAN port is used to access the internet.
By definition, WLAN—wireless local area network —is a subset of LAN. Though WLAN and WiFi are sometimes used interchangeably, they’re actually quite different things. WiFi more accurately refers to a method of implementing a wireless local area network.
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