Wi-Fi (IPA: /ˈwaɪfaɪ/) is the trade name for a popular wireless technology used in home networks, mobile phones, video games and more. A home network is a residential Local area network, and is used to connect multiple devices within the home A video game is a Game that involves interaction with a User interface to generate visual feedback on a video device. Wi-Fi is supported by nearly every modern personal computer operating system and most advanced game consoles. An operating system (commonly abbreviated OS and O/S) is the software component of a Computer system that is responsible for the management and coordination

Contents 1 Purpose 2 Uses 3 Balancing effort, advantages and challenges 3.1 Operational advantages 3.2 Limitations 3.3 Reach 3.4 Threats to security 3.5 Population 3.6 Pollution 4 Hardware 4.1 Standard devices 4.2 Distance records 4.3 Embedded systems 5 Network security 6 History 7 City wide Wi-Fi 8 Origin and meaning of the term "Wi-Fi" 9 Wi-Fi Alliance 10 See also 11 References 12 External links

Purpose

The purpose of Wi-Fi is to hide complexity by enabling wireless access to applications and data, media and streams. The main aims of Wi-Fi are to:

• facilitate access to information
• ensure compatibility and coexistence
• eliminate cabling and wiring
• eliminate switches, adapters, plugs and connectors.

Uses

A Wi-Fi enabled device such as a PC, game console, cell phone, MP3 player or PDA can connect to the Internet when within range of a wireless network connected to the Internet. A digital audio player, more commonly referred to as an MP3 player, is a Consumer electronics device that stores organizes and plays audio files Some The Internet is a global system of interconnected Computer networks Wireless network refers to any type of Computer network that is Wireless, and is commonly associated with a Telecommunications network whose interconnections The coverage of one or more interconnected access points — called a hotspot — can comprise an area as small as a single room with wireless-opaque walls or as large as many square miles covered by overlapping access points. In Computer networking, a wireless access point ( WAP or AP) is a device that allows wireless communication devices to connect to a Wireless network A hotspot is a venue that offers Wi-Fi access to the Internet Wi-Fi technology has served to set up mesh networks, for example, in London. A wireless mesh network ( WMN) is a communications network made up of Radio nodes organized in a mesh topology. ^[1] Both architectures can operate in community networks. Wireless community networks or wireless community projects are the organizations that attempt to take a grassroots approach to providing a viable alternative to Municipal

In addition to restricted use in homes and offices, Wi-Fi can make access publicly available at Wi-Fi hotspots provided either free of charge or to subscribers to various providers. A hotspot is a venue that offers Wi-Fi access to the Internet Organizations and businesses such as airports, hotels and restaurants often provide free hotspots to attract or assist clients. A business (also called firm or an enterprise) is a legally recognized organizational entity designed to provide goods and/or services to Enthusiasts or authorities who wish to provide services or even to promote business in a given area sometimes provide free Wi-Fi access. Metropolitan-wide Wi-Fi (Muni-Fi) already has more than 300 projects in process. Municipal wireless network ( Municipal Wi-Fi, Muni Wi-Fi or Muni-Fi) is the concept of turning an entire city into a Wireless Access Zone (WAZ 2008 ( MMVIII) is the current year in accordance with the Gregorian calendar, a Leap year that started on Tuesday of the Common For all other uses see Project (disambiguation. A project, as defined in the field of Project management, consists of a temporary ^[2]

Wi-Fi also allows connectivity in peer-to-peer (wireless ad-hoc network) mode, which enables devices to connect directly with each other. For other uses of the term see Peer-to-peer (disambiguation For peer-to-peer networks used for file sharing see File sharing A wireless ad hoc network is a decentralized Wireless network. This connectivity mode can prove useful in consumer electronics and gaming applications.

When wireless networking technology first entered the market many problems ensued for consumers who could not rely on products from different vendors working together. Wireless network refers to any type of Computer network that is Wireless, and is commonly associated with a Telecommunications network whose interconnections The Wi-Fi Alliance began as a community to solve this issue — aiming to address the needs of the end-user and to allow the technology to mature. In biological terms a community is a group of interacting Organisms sharing an environment. Economics and Commerce define an end-user as the person who uses a product. The Alliance created the branding Wi-Fi CERTIFIED to reassure consumers that products will interoperate with other products displaying the same branding. Interoperability is a property referring to the ability of diverse systems and organizations to work together (inter-operate

Many consumer devices use Wi-Fi. Amongst others, personal computers can network to each other and connect to the Internet, mobile computers can connect to the Internet from any Wi-Fi hotspot, and digital cameras can transfer images wirelessly. A personal computer ( PC) is any Computer whose original sales price size and capabilities make it useful for individuals and which is intended to be operated The Internet is a global system of interconnected Computer networks Mobile computing is a generic term describing one's ability to use technology while moving as opposed to Portable computers which are only practical for use while deployed in Many compact digital still cameras can record Sound and moving Video as well as still Photograph.

Routers which incorporate a DSL-modem or a cable-modem and a Wi-Fi access point, often set up in homes and other premises, provide Internet-access and internetworking to all devices connected (wirelessly or by cable) to them. A router ('rautər in the USA 'rutər in the UK and Ireland, or either pronunciation in Australia and Canada is a Computer whose software and hardware are usually A cable modem is a type of Modem that provides access to a data signal sent over the Cable television infrastructure The Internet is a global system of interconnected Computer networks Internetworking involves connecting two or more distinct Computer networks or network segments via a common routing technology One can also connect Wi-Fi devices in ad-hoc mode for client-to-client connections without a router. Ad hoc is a Latin phrase which means "for this [ Purpose ]"

As of 2007 Wi-Fi technology had spread widely within business and industrial sites. In business environments, just like other environments, increasing the number of Wi-Fi access-points provides redundancy, support for fast roaming and increased overall network-capacity by using more channels or by defining smaller cells. Roaming is a general term in Wireless Telecommunications that refers to the extending of connectivity service in a location that is different from the home location A cellular network is a Radio network made up of a number of radio cells (or just cells) each served by a fixed transmitter known as a Cell Wi-Fi enables wireless voice-applications (VoWLAN or WVOIP). VoWLAN (Voice over Wireless LAN) is the use of a Wireless broadband network for the purpose of vocal conversation Over the years, Wi-Fi implementations have moved toward "thin" access-points, with more of the network intelligence housed in a centralized network appliance, relegating individual access-points to the role of mere "dumb" radios. Outdoor applications may utilize true mesh topologies. Mesh networking is a way to route data voice and instructions between nodes. As of 2007 Wi-Fi installations can provide a secure computer networking gateway, firewall, DHCP server, intrusion detection system, and other functions. In Telecommunications, the term gateway has the following meaning In a Communications network, a network node equipped for interfacing with A firewall is an integrated collection of security measures designed to prevent unauthorized electronic access to a networked computer system An Intrusion detection system ( IDS) is software and/or hardware designed to detect unwanted attempts at accessing manipulating and/or disabling of computer systems

Balancing effort, advantages and challenges

As in all aspects of life and technology arguing advantages and disadvantages is a question of views and aspects. The baseline must be to balance cost and benefit. There is no addressing of advantages without addressing the aspect and view on the subject first.

Operational advantages

Wi-Fi allows LANs (Local Area Networks) to be deployed without cabling for client devices, typically reducing the costs of network deployment and expansion. Spaces where cables cannot be run, such as outdoor areas and historical buildings, can host wireless LANs.

As of 2007, wireless network adapters are built into most modern laptops. The price of chipsets for Wi-Fi continues to drop, making it an economical networking option included in ever more devices. A chipset is a group of Integrated circuits or chips that are designed to work together and are usually marketed as a single product Wi-Fi has become widespread in corporate infrastructures.

Different competitive brands of access points and client network interfaces are inter-operable at a basic level of service. Products designated as "Wi-Fi Certified" by the Wi-Fi Alliance are backwards compatible. Wi-Fi is a global set of standards. Unlike mobile telephones, any standard Wi-Fi device will work anywhere in the world.

Wi-Fi is widely available in more than 220,000 public hotspots and tens of millions of homes and corporate and university campuses worldwide. ^[3] WPA is not easily cracked if strong passwords are used and WPA2 encryption has no known weaknesses. Wi-Fi Protected Access ( WPA and WPA2) is a certification program administered by the Wi-Fi Alliance to indicate compliance with the security protocol created by the Wi-Fi Protected Access ( WPA and WPA2) is a certification program administered by the Wi-Fi Alliance to indicate compliance with the security protocol created by the New protocols for Quality of Service (WMM) make Wi-Fi more suitable for latency-sensitive applications (such as voice and video), and power saving mechanisms (WMM Power Save) improve battery operation. Wireless Multimedia Extensions ( WME) also known as Wi-Fi Multimedia ( WMM) is a Wi-Fi Alliance interoperability certification based on the

Limitations

Spectrum assignments and operational limitations are not consistent worldwide. Most of Europe allows for an additional 2 channels beyond those permitted in the U. S. for the 2. 4 GHz band. (1–13 vs. 1–11); Japan has one more on top of that (1–14). Europe, as of 2007, was essentially homogeneous in this respect. A very confusing aspect is the fact that a Wi-Fi signal actually occupies five channels in the 2. 4 GHz band resulting in only three non-overlapped channels in the U. S. : 1, 6, 11, and three or four in Europe: 1, 5, 9, 13 can be used if all the equipment on a specific area can be granted not to use 802. 11b at all, even as fallback or beacon. Equivalent isotropically radiated power (EIRP) in the EU is limited to 20 dBm (0. In Radio communication systems Equivalent isotropically radiated power ( EIRP) or alternatively Effective isotropically radiated power is the amount For other uses see DBM (disambiguation dbm was the first of a family of simple Database engines originally written by Ken 1 W).

Reach

Due to reach requirements for wireless LAN applications, power consumption is fairly high compared to some other low-bandwidth standards. Especially Zigbee and Bluetooth supporting wireless PAN applications refer to much lesser propagation range of <10m (ref. ZigBee is the name of a specification for a suite of high level communication protocols using small Bluetooth is a wireless protocol utilizing short-range communications technology facilitating data transmission over short distances from fixed and/or mobile devices creating wireless A personal area network ( PAN) is a Computer network used for Communication among Computer devices (including Telephones and Personal e. g. IEEE Std. 802. 15. 4 section 1. 2 scope). Range is always making battery life a concern.

Wi-Fi networks have limited range. A typical Wi-Fi home router using 802.11b or 802.11g with a stock antenna might have a range of 32 m (120 ft) indoors and 95 m (300 ft) outdoors. Wi-Fi (ˈwaɪfaɪ is the trade name for the popular wireless technology used IEEE 80211 is a set of standards for wireless local area network (WLAN computer communication developed by the IEEE LAN/MAN Standards Committee ( IEEE 802 IEEE 80211 is a set of standards for wireless local area network (WLAN computer communication developed by the IEEE LAN/MAN Standards Committee ( IEEE 802 Range also varies with frequency band. Wi-Fi in the 2. 4 GHz frequency block has slightly better range than Wi-Fi in the 5 GHz frequency block. Outdoor range with improved (directional) antennas can be several kilometres or more with line-of-sight.

Wi-Fi performance decreases roughly quadratically as the range increases at constant radiation levels.

Threats to security

The most common wireless encryption standard, Wired Equivalent Privacy or WEP, has been shown to be easily breakable even when correctly configured. Wired Equivalent Privacy ( WEP) is a deprecated Algorithm to secure IEEE 802 Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA and WPA2), which began shipping in 2003, aims to solve this problem and is now available on most products. Wi-Fi Protected Access ( WPA and WPA2) is a certification program administered by the Wi-Fi Alliance to indicate compliance with the security protocol created by the Wi-Fi Access Points typically default to an "open" (encryption-free) mode. In Computer networking, a wireless access point ( WAP or AP) is a device that allows wireless communication devices to connect to a Wireless network Novice users benefit from a zero-configuration device that works out of the box, but this default is without any wireless security enabled, providing open wireless access to their LAN. Wireless security is the prevention of unauthorized access or damage to computers using Wireless networks To turn security on requires the user to configure the device, usually via a software graphical user interface (GUI). Wi-Fi networks that are open (unencrypted) can be monitored and used to read and copy data (including personal information) transmitted over the network, unless another security method is used to secure the data, such as a VPN or a secure web page. (See HTTPS/Secure Socket Layer. Transport Layer Security ( TLS) and its predecessor Secure Sockets Layer ( SSL) are Cryptographic protocols that provide secure )

Population

Many 2. 4 GHz 802.11b and 802.11g Access points default to the same channel on initial startup, contributing to congestion on certain channels. IEEE 80211 is a set of standards for wireless local area network (WLAN computer communication developed by the IEEE LAN/MAN Standards Committee ( IEEE 802 IEEE 80211 is a set of standards for wireless local area network (WLAN computer communication developed by the IEEE LAN/MAN Standards Committee ( IEEE 802 To change the channel of operation for an access point requires the user to configure the device. Yet, this default use of channels 1, 6 and 11 gives better performance than "advanced" users choosing channels 2, 5, 7 and 9 as "unused, free".

Pollution

Standardization is a process driven by market forces. Interoperability issues between non-Wi-Fi brands or proprietary deviations from the standard can still disrupt connections or lower throughput speeds on all user's devices that are within range, to include the non-Wi-Fi or proprietary product. Moreover, the usage of the ISM band in the 2. 45 GHz range is also common to Bluetooth, WPAN-CSS, ZigBee and any new system will take its share. Bluetooth is a wireless protocol utilizing short-range communications technology facilitating data transmission over short distances from fixed and/or mobile devices creating wireless WPAN is a commercial Television station in Fort Walton Beach Florida, serving the Mobile Alabama market on channel 53 as an affiliate of Shop at ZigBee is the name of a specification for a suite of high level communication protocols using small

Wi-Fi pollution, or an excessive number of access points in the area, especially on the same or neighboring channel, can prevent access and interfere with the use of other access points by others, caused by overlapping channels in the 802. 11g/b spectrum, as well as with decreased signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) between access points. Signal-to-noise ratio (often abbreviated SNR or S/N) is an Electrical engineering concept also used in other fields (such as scientific Measurements This can be a problem in high-density areas, such as large apartment complexes or office buildings with many Wi-Fi access points. Additionally, other devices use the 2. 4 GHz band: microwave ovens, security cameras, Bluetooth devices and (in some countries) Amateur radio, video senders, cordless phones and baby monitors, all of which can cause significant additional interference. Bluetooth is a wireless protocol utilizing short-range communications technology facilitating data transmission over short distances from fixed and/or mobile devices creating wireless Amateur radio, often called ham radio, is both a Hobby and a service in which participants called "hams" use various types of Radio communications A video sender is a device for transmitting domestic video signals wirelessly from one room to another as for example sending the output of a Satellite TV decoder located in the lounge General guidance to those who suffer these forms of interference or network crowding is to migrate to a Wi-Fi 5 GHz product, (802.11a, or the newer 802.11n if it has 5 GHz support) as the 5 GHz band is relatively unused and there are many more channels available. IEEE 80211a-1999 or 80211a, is an amendment to the IEEE 80211 specification that added a higher throughput of up to 54 Mbit/s by using the 5 GHz IEEE 80211n is a proposed amendment to the IEEE 80211-2007 Wireless networking standard to significantly improve network throughput over previous standards such This also requires users to set up the 5 GHz band to be the preferred network in the client and to configure each network band to a different name (SSID). It is also an issue when municipalities,^[4] or other large entities such as universities, seek to provide large area coverage. This openness is also important to the success and widespread use of 2. 4 GHz Wi-Fi.

Hardware

Standard devices

A wireless access point connects a group of wireless devices to an adjacent wired LAN. In Computer networking, a wireless access point ( WAP or AP) is a device that allows wireless communication devices to connect to a Wireless network An access point is similar to a network hub, relaying data between connected wireless devices in addition to a (usually) single connected wired device, most often an ethernet hub or switch, allowing wireless devices to communicate with other wired devices. In Computer science, data is anything in a form suitable for use with a Computer.

Wireless adapters allow devices to connect to a wireless network. A wireless network interface controller (WNIC is a Network card which connects to a Radio -based Computer network, unlike a regular network interface These adapters connect to devices using various external or internal interconnects such as PCI, miniPCI, USB, ExpressCard, Cardbus and PC card. The Peripheral Component Interconnect, or PCI Standard (commonly PCI) specifies a Computer bus for attaching peripheral devices to a Computer Mini PCI is a standard for a Computer bus for attaching peripheral devices to a Computer Motherboard and is an adaptation of ExpressCard is a Hardware standard replacing PC cards (also known as PCMCIA cards both developed by the Personal Computer Memory Card International Association In Computing, PC Card (originally '''PCMCIA''', or PCMCIA Card is the Form factor of a peripheral interface designed for Laptop computers Most newer laptop computers are equipped with internal adapters. Internal cards are generally more difficult to install.

Wireless routers integrate a WAP, ethernet switch, and internal Router firmware application that provides IP Routing, NAT, and DNS forwarding through an integrated WAN interface. A router ('rautər in the USA 'rutər in the UK and Ireland, or either pronunciation in Australia and Canada is a Computer whose software and hardware are usually A A router ('rautər in the USA 'rutər in the UK and Ireland, or either pronunciation in Australia and Canada is a Computer whose software and hardware are usually The Internet Protocol ( IP) is a protocol used for communicating data across a Packet-switched Internetwork using the Internet Protocol Routing is the process of selecting paths in a network along which to send network traffic In Computer networking network address translation (NAT is the process of modifying Network address information in datagram packet headers while in transit across The Domain Name System (DNS is a hierarchical naming system for computers services or any resource participating in the Internet. Wide Area Network ( WAN) is a Computer network that covers a broad area (i A wireless router allows wired and wireless ethernet LAN devices to connect to a (usually) single WAN device such as cable modem or DSL modem. Wide Area Network ( WAN) is a Computer network that covers a broad area (i A cable modem is a type of Modem that provides access to a data signal sent over the Cable television infrastructure ADSL modem or DSL modem is a device used to connect a single Computer or Router to a DSL phone line in order to use an ADSL A wireless router allows all three devices (mainly the access point and router) to be configured through one central utility. This utility is most usually an integrated web server which serves web pages to wired and wireless LAN clients and often optionally to WAN clients. The term web server can mean one of two things A Computer program that is responsible for accepting HTTP requests from web clients which are This utility may also be an application that is run on a desktop computer such as Apple's AirPort. An airport is a location where Aircraft such as airplanes, Helicopters and blimps take off and land

Wireless network bridges connect a wired network to a wireless network. A network bridge connects multiple Network segments at the Data link layer (layer 2 of the OSI model, and the term layer 2 switch is often This is different from an access point in the sense that an access point connects wireless devices to a wired network at the data-link layer. The Open Systems Interconnection Basic Reference Model (OSI Reference Model or OSI Model) is an abstract description for layered communications and computer Network protocol Two wireless bridges may be used to connect two wired networks over a wireless link, useful in situations where a wired connection may be unavailable, such as between two separate homes.

Wireless range extenders or wireless repeaters can extend the range of an existing wireless network. Range extenders can be strategically placed to elongate a signal area or allow for the signal area to reach around barriers such as those created in L-shaped corridors. Wireless devices connected through repeaters will suffer from an increased latency for each hop. Additionally, a wireless device connected to any of the repeaters in the chain will have a throughput that is limited by the weakest link between the two nodes in the chain from which the connection originates to where the connection ends.

Distance records

Distance records (using non-standard devices) include 382 km (237 mi) in June 2007, held by Ermanno Pietrosemoli and EsLaRed of Venezuela, transferring about 3 MB of data between mountain tops of El Aguila and Platillon. ^[5][6] The Swedish Space Agency transferred data 310 km (193 mi), using 6 watt amplifiers to reach an overhead stratospheric balloon. The Swedish National Space Board, or Rymdstyrelsen is a Swedish government agency operating under the Ministry of Industry Employment and Communications ^[7] However, striving for records does not comply with common license-free usage of WiFi equipment under regulated power level restrictions.

Embedded systems

Wi-Fi availability in the home is on the increase. This extension of the Internet into the home space will increasingly be used for remote monitoring. Examples of remote monitoring include security systems and tele-medicine. In all these kinds of implementation, if the Wi-Fi provision is provided using a system running one of operating systems mentioned above, then it becomes unfeasible due to weight, power consumption and cost issues.

Increasingly in the last few years (particularly as of early 2007), embedded Wi-Fi modules have become available which come with a real-time operating system and provide a simple means of wireless enabling any device which has and communicates via a serial port. ^[8] This allows simple monitoring devices – for example, a portable ECG monitor hooked up to a patient in their home – to be created. This Wi-Fi enabled device effectively becomes part of the internet cloud and can communicate with any other node on the internet. The data collected can hop via the home's Wi-Fi access point to anywhere on the internet.

These Wi-Fi modules are designed so that designers need minimal Wi-Fi knowledge to wireless-enable their products.

Network security

Main article: Piggybacking (internet access)

There is an ongoing search for optimizing between efforts, risks and benefits. Piggybacking is a term used to refer to access of a wireless internet connection by bringing one's own Computer within the range of another's As any common dissemination of information, also WiFi transmission may be subject of unwanted access.

During the early popular adoption of 802. 11, providing open access points for anyone within range to use was encouraged to cultivate wireless community networks;^[9] particularly since people on average use only a fraction of their upstream bandwidth at any given time. Wireless community networks or wireless community projects are the organizations that attempt to take a grassroots approach to providing a viable alternative to Municipal Later, equipment manufacturers and mass-media advocated isolating users to a predetermined whitelist of authorized users—referred to as "securing" the access point. A whitelist is a list of accepted items or persons in a set This list is inclusionary confirming that the item being analyzed is acceptable

Measures to deter unauthorized users include suppressing the AP's SSID broadcast, allowing only computers with known MAC addresses to join the network, and various encryption standards. A service set identifier, or SSID, is a name used to identify the particular 802 In Computer networking a Media Access Control address ( MAC address) or Ethernet Hardware Address ( EHA) hardware address Suppressed SSID and MAC filtering are ineffective security methods as the SSID is broadcast in the open in response to a client SSID query and a MAC address can easily be spoofed. If the eavesdropper has the ability to change his MAC address, then he can potentially join the network by spoofing an authorized address. In the context of Network security, a spoofing attack is a situation in which one person or program successfully masquerades as another by falsifying data and thereby gaining

WEP encryption can protect against casual snooping, but may also produce a misguided sense of security since freely available tools such as AirSnort or aircrack can quickly recover WEP encryption keys. Wired Equivalent Privacy ( WEP) is a deprecated Algorithm to secure IEEE 802 AirSnort is a Linux and Microsoft Windows utility (using GTK+) for decrypting WEP Encryption on an 802 Aircrack-ng is a network detector Packet sniffer, WEP and WPA cracker and analysis tool for 802 Once it has seen 5-10 million encrypted packets, AirSnort can determine the encryption password in under a second;^[10] newer tools such as aircrack-ptw can use Klein's attack to crack a WEP key with a 50% success rate using only 40,000 packets. The newer Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA) and IEEE 802.11i (WPA2) encryption standards do not have any of the serious weaknesses of WEP encryption. Wi-Fi Protected Access ( WPA and WPA2) is a certification program administered by the Wi-Fi Alliance to indicate compliance with the security protocol created by the IEEE 80211i-2004, or 80211i, is an amendment to the IEEE 80211 standard specifying security mechanisms for wireless networks The amendment has been

One serious issue with wireless network security is not just encryption, but access to the network (signal reception). With wired networking it is necessary to get past either a firewall or the security guard & locked doors. With wireless it is only necessary to get reception and spend as long as you want, comfortably out of (easy) reach of the network owner. Most business networks protect sensitive data and systems by attempting to disallow external access. Thus being able to get wireless reception (and thus possibly break the encryption) becomes an attack vector on the network as well. ^[11]

Recreational logging and mapping of other people's access points has become known as wardriving. Wardriving is the act of searching for Wi-Fi Wireless networks by a person in a moving vehicle using a portable computer or PDA. It is also common for people to use open (unencrypted) Wi-Fi networks as a free service, termed piggybacking. Piggybacking is a term used to refer to access of a wireless internet connection by bringing one's own Computer within the range of another's Indeed, many access points are intentionally installed without security turned on so that they can be used as a free service. These activities do not result in sanctions in most jurisdictions, however legislation and case law differ considerably across the world. Case law' (also known as decisional law or judicial precedent) is that body of reported Judicial opinions in countries that have Common law A proposal to leave graffiti describing available services was called warchalking. Graffiti (singular graffito; the plural is used as a Mass noun) is the name for images or lettering scratched scrawled painted or marked in any manner on property Warchalking is the drawing of Symbols in Public places to advertise an open Wi-Fi Wireless network. In a Florida court case, owner laziness was determined not to be a valid excuse. Florida ( is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States, bordering Alabama to the northwest and Georgia to the

Piggybacking is often unintentional. Most access points are configured without encryption by default, and operating systems such as Windows XP SP2 and Mac OS X may be configured to automatically connect to any available wireless network. Windows XP is a family of 32-bit and 64-bit Operating systems produced by Microsoft for use on Personal computers including home and Mac OS X (mæk oʊ ɛs tɛn is a line of computer Operating systems developed marketed and sold by Apple Inc, the latest of which is pre-loaded on all currently A user who happens to start up a laptop in the vicinity of an access point may find the computer has joined the network without any visible indication. Moreover, a user intending to join one network may instead end up on another one if the latter's signal is stronger. In combination with automatic discovery of other network resources (see DHCP and Zeroconf) this could possibly lead wireless users to send sensitive data to the wrong middle man when seeking a destination (see Man-in-the-middle attack). Zeroconf, or Zero Configuration Networking, is a set of techniques that automatically create a usable IP network without configuration or special servers In Cryptography, the man-in-the-middle attack or bucket-brigade attack (often abbreviated MITM) sometimes Janus attack, is a For example, a user could inadvertently use an insecure network to login to a website, thereby making the login credentials available to anyone listening, if the website is using an insecure protocol like HTTP, rather than a secure protocol like HTTPS. A website (alternatively web site or Web site, a back-construction from the Proper noun World Wide Web) is a collection of Web pages Hypertext Transfer Protocol ( HTTP) is a Communications protocol for the transfer of information on the Internet.

History

Wi-Fi uses both single carrier direct-sequence spread spectrum radio technology (part of the larger family of spread spectrum systems) and multi-carrier OFDM (Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing) radio technology. In Telecommunications direct-sequence spread spectrum ( DSSS) is a Modulation technique Spread-spectrum techniques are methods by which Energy generated in a particular bandwidth is deliberately spread in the Frequency domain, resulting Orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing ( OFDM) — essentially identical to Coded OFDM ( COFDM) and Discrete multi-tone modulation ( The regulations for unlicensed spread spectrum enabled the development of Wi-Fi, its onetime competitor HomeRF, Bluetooth, and many other products such as some types of cordless telephones. HomeRF is a Wireless networking specification for home devices to be connected to each other Bluetooth is a wireless protocol utilizing short-range communications technology facilitating data transmission over short distances from fixed and/or mobile devices creating wireless

Unlicensed spread spectrum was first made available in the US by the Federal Communications Commission in 1985 and these FCC regulations were later copied with some changes in many other countries enabling use of this technology in all major countries. ^[12] The FCC action was proposed by Michael Marcus of the FCC staff in 1980 and the subsequent regulatory action took 5 more years. It was part of a broader proposal to allow civil use of spread spectrum technology and was opposed at the time by main stream equipment manufacturers and many radio system operators. ^[13]

The precursor to Wi-Fi was invented in 1991 by NCR Corporation/AT&T (later Lucent & Agere Systems) in Nieuwegein, the Netherlands. NCR Corporation ( is a technology company specializing in products for the retail and financial sectors Before proposing a merge request please see Talk and see if the merger you propose has recently been made and Lucent Technologies was a technology company composed of what was formerly AT&T Technologies, which included Western Electric and Bell Labs. Agere Systems Inc was an Integrated circuit components company based in Allentown Pennsylvania, in the Lehigh Valley region of Pennsylvania Nieuwegein is a municipality and a city in the Netherlands, in the province of Utrecht. It was initially intended for cashier systems; the first wireless products were brought on the market under the name WaveLAN with speeds of 1 Mbit/s to 2 Mbit/s. WaveLAN is a Trade name that describes two completely different families of wireless network solutions Pre- IEEE 802 Vic Hayes, who held the chair of IEEE 802. 11 for 10 years and has been named the 'father of Wi-Fi,' was involved in designing standards such as IEEE 802. The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers or IEEE (read eye-triple-e) is an international Non-profit, professional organization 11b, and 802. 11a.

City wide Wi-Fi

Further information: Municipal wireless network

St. Cloud, Florida became the first city in the United States to offer city wide free Wi-Fi,^[14] although many others have plans to offer the service. Municipal wireless network ( Municipal Wi-Fi, Muni Wi-Fi or Muni-Fi) is the concept of turning an entire city into a Wireless Access Zone (WAZ St Cloud is a city in Osceola County, Florida, United States. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the Corpus Christi, Texas had offered free Wi-Fi until May 31, 2007 when the network was purchased by Earthlink. Corpus Christi is a coastal city in the South Texas region of the U ^[15] Philadelphia is also using Earthlink for its city wide Wi-Fi. Philadelphia (ˌfɪləˈdɛlfiə ^[16] New Orleans had free city wide Wi-Fi shortly after Hurricane Katrina. New Orleans (nʲuːˈɔrliənz nʲuːˈɔrlənz French: La Nouvelle-Orléans) is a major United States port city and the largest city in Louisiana Hurricane Katrina of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season was the costliest hurricane, as well as one of the five deadliest in the history of the United States ^[17] City wide Wi-Fi is available in nine cities in the UK, Newcastle Upon Tyne being the first UK city host, others include Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, Norwich and London. Newcastle upon Tyne ( (often shortened to Newcastle) is a city and Metropolitan borough of Tyne and Wear, England Leeds ( is located on the River Aire in West Yorkshire, England Liverpool ( is a City and Metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary History Roman The Romans had their regional capital at Venta Icenorum on the river to the south which is near modern-day Caistor St Edmund London ( ˈlʌndən is the capital and largest urban area in the United Kingdom. ^[18] Other cities, such as the Minneapolis metro area, have a large number of Wi-Fi hotspots so you can receive good signals anywhere, even if from different sources. In Europe, the City of Luxembourg has a city-wide Wi-Fi network.

In Latin America, Mexico City downtown has a public Wi-Fi network. Mexico City (in Spanish: Ciudad de México, México DF, México or simply Méjico) is the Capital city of Mexico Downtown is a term primarily used in North America to refer to a city's core usually in a geographical commercial and community sense Also, many public squares in towns of Puerto Rico are offering Wi-Fi Internet access. Puerto Rico (ˌpwertoˈriko officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ("Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico" {{lang-en|"Associated Free State of Puerto Rico"}}

As compared to Wireless Mesh, WiMax provides over 4 times the number of subcarriers over a variable bandwidth of 1 to 28 MHz. WiMAX, an approximate acronym of Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access, is a Telecommunications technology that provides for the wireless transmission With more subcarriers and a variable length guard interval, the spectral efficiency has increased from 15% to 40% compared to Wireless Mesh. The error vector magnitude of Wireless Mesh is higher than WiMax. This makes WiMax have a longer range. Wireless Mesh transmits and receives functions on the same channel where as WiMax transmits and receives functions at a different channel and at a different time. In Wireless Mesh the output power is virtually fixed however in WiMax the devices closer to the base stations emit less output power whereas the ones further away emit maximum output power.

Wi-Fi can overpower WiMax if the city is meshed with hot spots. A hotspot is a venue that offers Wi-Fi access to the Internet A very easy way to do it would be if mobile carriers integrate hot spots with their mobile base stations as WiMax chips are not as integrated as the Wi-Fi chips.

Origin and meaning of the term "Wi-Fi"

The term "Wi-Fi" suggests "Wireless Fidelity", comparing with the long-established audio recording term "High Fidelity" or "Hi-Fi", and "Wireless Fidelity" has often been used in an informal way, even by the Wi-Fi Alliance itself, but officially the term does not mean anything. High fidelity or hi-fi reproduction is a term used by home stereo listeners and home audio enthusiasts ( Audiophiles to refer to high-quality reproduction

"Wi-Fi" was coined by a brand consulting firm called Interbrand Corporation that had been hired by the Alliance to determine a name that was "a little catchier than 'IEEE 802. Interbrand, a division of Omnicom, is a branding consultancy Interbrand was founded in 1974 as Novamark by John Murphy, a former employee of Dunlop, in 11b Direct Sequence'. "^[19][20][21]Interbrand invented "Wi-Fi" as simply a play-on-words with "Hi-Fi", as well as creating the yin yang style Wi-Fi logo. In Chinese philosophy, the concept of yin and yang ( is used to describe how seemingly opposing forces are bound together intertwined and interdependent in the

The Wi-Fi Alliance initially complicated matters by stating that it actually stood for "Wireless Fidelity", as with the slogan "The Standard for Wireless Fidelity",^[20] but later removed the phrase from their marketing. A slogan is a memorable Motto or Phrase used in a Political, commercial, Religious and other context as a repetitive expression of The Wi-Fi Alliance's early White Papers still held in their knowledge base: "… a promising market for wireless fidelity (Wi-Fi) network equipment. A white paper is an authoritative report or guide that often addresses problems and how to solve them "^[22] and "A Short History of WLANs. A wireless LAN or WLAN is a Wireless Local area network, which is the linking of two or more computers or devices without using wires " The yin yang logo indicates that a product had been certified for interoperability. Interoperability is a property referring to the ability of diverse systems and organizations to work together (inter-operate ^[23]

The Alliance has since downplayed the connection to "Hi-Fi". Their official position is that it is merely a brand name that stands for nothing in particular, and they now discourage the use of the term "Wireless Fidelity".

Wi-Fi Alliance

Main article: Wi-Fi Alliance

The Alliance promotes standards with the aim of improving the interoperability of wireless local area network products based on the IEEE 802.11 standards. The Wi-Fi Alliance is a Trade group that owns the Trademark to Wi-Fi. IEEE 80211 is a set of standards for wireless local area network (WLAN computer communication developed by the IEEE LAN/MAN Standards Committee ( IEEE 802 The Wi-Fi Alliance, a consortium of separate and independent companies, agrees on a set of common interoperable products based on the family of IEEE 802.11 standards. IEEE 80211 is a set of standards for wireless local area network (WLAN computer communication developed by the IEEE LAN/MAN Standards Committee ( IEEE 802 ^[24] The Wi-Fi Alliance certifies products via a set of defined test-procedures to establish interoperability. Those manufacturers with membership of Wi-Fi Alliance and whose products pass these interoperability tests can mark their products and product packaging with the Wi-Fi logo. ^[25]

See also

References

External links

• Wi-Fi Alliance

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