Difference Between a Cell Phone With WiFi & a Cell Phone With WAP

Wireless communication technology uses a variety of methods for both data transmission and user security. When using a cell phone, you may notice that it also has Wi-Fi functionality or WAP functionality. These are two distinctively different communications features.

WAP Basics

WAP stands for Wireless Application Protocol. It is a method of allowing a mobile device user to access the Internet through the device's interface.

WAP Origins

WAP was originally designed by the WAP Forum as a method to deliver a customized webpage to the mobile device user. The user's service provider would provide a "portal" website accessible from this device that would contain information like sports scores, weather and stock tickers.

WAP vs. Wi-Fi

Wi-Fi, meanwhile, is a method to wirelessly connect a user to a device that is physically attached to the Internet. Phones with Wi-Fi contain customized browsers that do not have the navigation limitations that WAP did originally.

Navigation Limitations

The WAP Forum originally based WAP on WML (Wireless Markup Language) instead of HTML (Hypertext Markup Language), so the device's browser was not compatible with HTML-based websites. HTML is a much more widely adopted standard.

Evolution

WAP functionality is now largely based on "xHTML," where the "x" stands for "Extensible," as in "designed to accommodate additions to the programming code." This makes a WAP-based phone more compatible with most websites.

References

• InformIT: "Wireless Application Protocol 2.0"
• AT&T: "What is Wi-Fi (Wireless Fidelity)?"