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What Is Wi-Fi?
February 5, 2003 — Listen to a wireless geek talk long enough and you’ll hear terms like gigahertz, Bluetooth, GPRS (and other assorted acronyms, including IEEE). None of these terms, though, roll off the tongue like Wi-Fi, the hip name given to a set of wireless technologies that can be used to connect everything from office PCs to kitchen appliances. Brace yourself: the acronyms are going to fly fast and furious below.
What does Wi-Fi mean?
It’s short for “wireless fidelity,” and it is used to
describe products that follow the 802.11 set of standards developed by the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE). The most popular of these is 802.11b, which operates in the 2.4 GHz band (the same frequency band as a microwave oven and cordless telephone) and transfers data at 11 megabitsper second (Mbps). The emerging 802.11a standard operates in the 5 GHz band and can transfer data up to 54 Mbps. The 802.11g standard, the newest, is compatible with 802.11b and operates in the same 2.4 GHz band, but it can transfer up to 54 Mbps like 802.11a. These technologies have a range of about 300 feet.
According to International Data Corporation (a sister company to Darwinmag.com publisher CXO Media), the market for 802.11a is the most promising. By 2006, IDC predicts the 802.11a market to reach $1.58 billion, up from just $35 million in 2001.
What is Wi-Fi used for?
In most cases, enterprises use Wi-Fi to link data networks together instead of using wires. According to Stamford, Conn.-based Gartner, 50 percent of Fortune 1,000 companies will have extensively deployed wireless local area networks (WLANs) using Wi-Fi to support standard wired local area networks (LANs) by 2005. In the home, WLANs are becoming a popular way of networking multiple PCs to a broadband Internet connection.
Is it safe?
Originally, Wi-Fi used a technique called Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP) that used simple encryption to protect data. However, as vulnerabilities in WEP have been exposed, a new standard called W-Fi Protected Access (WPA) is being tested that will provide a much greater security through improved data encryption and user authentication.
What’s a hotspot?
A hotspot is a wireless access point where users can get onto a network or the Internet. Hotspots are found in various public places for free or for a fee, provided the users’ devices (laptops, PDAs) have Wi-Fi chipsets. Many airports and hotels have hotspots . Also, Starbucks has hotspots at more than 1,000 locations in the United States. Soon, you will be able to find a hotspot anywhere in the world by visiting the Wi-Fi Zone, a project of the Wi-Fi Alliance.
What’s next for Wi-Fi?
Look for data rates to improve, possibly to levels as high as 100 Mbps in a few years. In the meantime, Wi-Fi chipsets will be embedded in more and more devices, such as cars, cameras and of course, computers.
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