All About WiFi
Wi-Fi, or Wireless
Fidelity, is freedom: it allows you to connect to the
Internet from your couch at home, a bed in a hotel room
or a conference room at work without wires. How? Wi-Fi
is a wireless technology like a cell phone. Wi-Fi
enabled computers send and receive data indoors and out;
anywhere within the range of a base station. And the
best thing of all, it's fast. In fact, it's several
times faster than the fastest cable modem connection.
However, you only have true
freedom to be connected anywhere if your computer is
configured with a Wi-Fi CERTIFIED radio (a PC Card or
similar device). Wi-Fi certification means that you will
be able to connect anywhere there are other compatible
Wi-Fi CERTIFIED products — whether you are at home, the
office or corporate campus, or in airports, hotels,
coffee shops and other public areas equipped with Wi-Fi
access.
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Look for the Wi-Fi
CERTIFIED logo with color-coded Standard Indicator Icons
(SII) on product packaging or search through our Web
site listing of CERTIFIED products before making a Wi-Fi
purchase. The Wi-Fi CERTIFIED logo is your only
assurance that a product has met rigorous
interoperability testing requirements to ensure that
compatible products from different vendors will work
together. The Wi-Fi CERTIFIED logo means that it's a
"safe" buy. The color-coded Standard Indicator Icons or
“SII” displayed with the logo will assist you in
selecting products that are interoperable. Products
displaying the same SII on their packaging are certified
to work together. Below are some examples of the Wi-Fi
CERTIFIED logo with SII.
  
The Wi-Fi Alliance
(formerly WECA) is the global Wi-Fi organization that
created the Wi-Fi brand. A nonprofit organization, the
Alliance was formed in 1999 to certify interoperability
of IEEE 802.11 products and to promote them as the
global, wireless LAN standard across all market
segments. The Wi-Fi Alliance has instituted a test suite
that defines how member products are tested to certify
that they are interoperable with other Wi-Fi CERTIFIED
products. These tests are conducted at an independent
laboratory. Thanks to the Wi-Fi Alliance, you don’t have
to read the fine print or study technical manuals: just
look for the Wi-Fi CERTIFIED logo and color-coded
Standard Indicator Icons to match interoperable
products.
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Imagine working on your
laptop or checking e-mail from anywhere in your home.
Imagine being able to connect to your office network
from an airport or coffee shop. Imagine retrieving files
or presentations from the corporate network, cruising
the Internet or sending instant messages to
co-workers—and doing it all from a conference room or
the company cafeteria.
Now, imagine doing all
these things easily and quickly - without worrying about
finding a wired network connection. That is Wi-Fi.
Imagine being able to move
your entire office without losing your investment in
networking installs, or to add new staff, all without
moving cables or installing complicated hubs and
routers. That is Wi-Fi.
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It's powerful. Wi-Fi
networks use radio technologies called IEEE 802.11b or
802.11a to provide secure, reliable, fast wireless
connectivity. A Wi-Fi network can be used to connect
computers to each other, to the Internet, and to wired
networks (which use IEEE 802.3 or Ethernet). Wi-Fi
networks operate in the unlicensed 2.4 and 5 GHz radio
bands, with an 11 Mbps (802.11b) or 54 Mbps (802.11a)
data rate or with products that contain both bands (dual
band), so they can provide real-world performance
similar to the basic 10BaseT wired Ethernet networks
used in many offices.
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Everyone can use Wi-Fi,
almost everywhere in the world. Home Wi-Fi networks can
connect multiple computers to each other, to
peripherals, and to the Internet. A Wi-Fi network can
connect a family's computers together to share such
hardware and software resources as printers and the
Internet. That means everyone in the family can share
stored files, photos and documents and print them out on
a single printer attached to one desktop computer—all
without unsightly cables running throughout the home.
In a home or home office,
using Wi-Fi CERTIFIED equipment in your wireless network
gives you the ability to share a single high-speed
broadband cable or DSL connection. A Wi-Fi network can
easily be expanded to ten users or more.
It also gives you assurance
that the Wi-Fi CERTIFIED equipment you purchase today
will work with the equipment you add to your network in
the future.
Wi-Fi networks also work
well for small businesses, providing connectivity
between mobile salespeople, floor staff and
behind-the-scenes finance and accounting departments.
Because small businesses are dynamic, the built-in
flexibility of a Wi-Fi network makes it easy and
affordable for them to change and grow.
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Large corporations and
campuses use enterprise-level technology and Wi-Fi
CERTIFIED wireless products to extend standard wired
Ethernet networks to public areas like meeting rooms,
training classrooms and large auditoriums. Many
corporations also provide wireless networks to their
off-site and telecommuting workers to use at home or in
remote offices. Large companies and campuses often use
Wi-Fi to connect buildings.
Service providers and
wireless ISPs are using Wi-Fi technology to distribute
Internet connectivity within individual homes and
businesses as well as apartments and commercial
complexes.
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Wi-Fi networks are also
found in busy public places like coffee shops, hotels,
airport lounges and other locations where large crowds
gather. This may be the fastest-growing segment of Wi-Fi
service, as more and more travelers and mobile
professionals clamor for fast and secure Internet access
wherever they are. Soon, Wi-Fi networks will be found in
urban areas providing coverage throughout the central
city, or even lining major highways, enabling travelers
access anywhere they can pull over and stop.
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It's easy to add another
wireless computer to a Wi-Fi network. There's no need to
purchase or lay more cable or find an available Ethernet
port on your hub or router. Just plug in your card or
USB connection, turn on your computer and you're surfing
the Net.
If your business grows and
you need to move, you don't have to abandon your network
infrastructure investment or hire a networking company
to rewire the new location. And there's no network
downtime—you can be up and running even before the
furniture arrives. Simply plug the system into a power
outlet and you'll be operational in minutes.
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courtesy
Wi-Fi
Alliance
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