Wi-Fi or WiFi is technology for radio wireless local area networking of devices based on the IEEE 802.11 standards. WI-Fi is a trademark of the Wi-Fi Alliance, which restricts the use of the term Wi-Fi Certified to products that successfully complete interoperability certification testing.
Devices that can use Wi-Fi technologies include desktops and laptops, video game consoles, smartphones and tablets, smart TVs, digital audio players, and modern printers. Wi-Fi compatible devices can connect to the Internet via a WLAN and a wireless access point. Such an access point (or hotspot) has a range of about 20 meters (66 feet) indoors and a greater range outdoors. Hotspot coverage can be as small as a single room with walls that block radio waves, or as large as many square kilometers achieved by using multiple overlapping access points.
Different versions of Wi-Fi exist, with different ranges, radio bands and speeds. Wi-Fi most commonly uses the 2.4 gigahertz (12 cm) UHF and 5.8 gigahertz (5 cm) SHF ISM radio bands; these bands are subdivided into multiple channels. Each channel can be time-shared by multiple networks. These wavelengths work best for line-of-sight. Many common materials absorb or reflect them, which further restricts range, but can tend to help minimize interference between different networks in crowded environments. At close range, some versions of Wi-Fi, running on suitable hardware, can achieve speeds of over 1 Gbit/s.
The new naming system will make it easier to identify which is the better version of Wi-Fi. Here’s how you can better understand this:
— Wi-Fi 1 for 802.11b which was launched 1999
— Wi-Fi 2 for 802.11a also launched in 1999
— Wi-Fi 3 for 802.11g launched in 2003
— Wi-Fi 4 for 802.11n launched in 2009
— Wi-Fi 5 for 802.11ac launched in 2014
So what is Wi-Fi 6?
Wi-Fi 6 was launching next year. According to the Wi-fi Alliance, the next Wi-fi will be higher costs and good performance. The next Wi-Fi will not require a wireless antenna will use the 2.4GHz and 5Ghz bands.
