About Wi-Fi

Wi-Fi is the increasing popular technology used to refer to wireless connection used in many mediums such as home networks, video games and cellular phones. More and more device manufacturers are including support for Wi-Fi.

The Wi-Fi technology makes it easy for device users to communicate with several devices or other users on a wireless platform. Eliminating the need for mountains of messy cords and obtaining the ability to roam around freely while connected are the main reasons consumers are drawn to Wi-Fi.

Invented

In 1980, Michael Marcus proposed to the FCC that there be regulations be made available for unlicensed direct-sequence spread spectrum. It took five years, but the FCC finally caved and released the spread spectrum. It was only released in the United States before moving on to other parts of the world.

That technology was used to created the precursor to Wi-Fi in 1991 by NCR Corporation/AT&T. The first Wi-Fi was named WaveLAN and only had speeds up to 2 megabits per second. Vic Hayes then took the technology and helped to design the IEEE 802.11b and 802.11a standards which is what is known as Wi-Fi.

History of

"Wireless Fidelity" is where the term Wi-Fi comes from. The term stems from "Hi-Fi", which is a term used in audio recording. Wi-Fi was first coined by Interbrand Corporation, which is a brand consulting firm. The Wi-Fi Alliance need a catchier term that would identify the technology that was only known as IEEE 802.11b and IEEE 802.11a standards. That is when Interbrand came up with the term and the logo. The Wi-Fi Alliance later established distance from using the "Wireless Fidelity" phrase and denied that the Wi-Fi term had any connection with "Hi-Fi".

Function

In this day and age, Wi-Fi enabled devices are popping up all over the place. PCs, mobile phones, PDAs, music players and game consoles are now able to connect to the internet if a Wi-Fi hotspot is nearby.

Wi-Fi hotspots can be found not only in homes and offices, but in different locations around cities such as airports, libraries, hotels and other various businesses. In some cities such as Corpus Christi, Texas, there are city-wide free Wi-Fi connections.

Benefits

There are many benefits to Wi-Fi. First, it enables the ability to access information and data through wireless means. Because of this, accessing this data is easier since there are no confusing cords and devices to be installed. Plus, connectors, plugs, switches and pins are also eliminated.

Risk Factors

Wi-Fi makes things easier but it is not without its complications. For one, the reach requirements cause accelerated power consumption. Wi-Fi also operates on a very limited reach. So, picking up a strong wireless connection from different hotspot areas depends if you are within the range areas.

There are also concerns about a threat to security when using Wi-Fi. The encryption used for Wi-Fi is Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP) and it is easy to break into no matter how correctly the settings are configured. Even more concerning is that most users want the ease of using Wi-Fi devices right out of the box without even enabling the security on them.