Welcome to Part 2 of Jabloggy’s Wireless Series! Today’s topic covers a technology that is pretty popular these days: Wi-Fi. You’ve heard about it. You’ve seen the signs in the windows of local restaurants and other establishments promoting free access. You might even have a Wi-Fi network in your own home. But what is it man?!?!
The term Wi-Fi basically refers to what’s known as a Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN for short). When someone says “I have Wi-Fi in my house” they mean they have a wireless network (also called wireless access point). If someone says “My device has Wi-Fi”, they are referring to the fact that their device (cellphone, iPod touch, etc.) has a wireless receiver in it that allows it to connect to any available WLAN.
(NOTE: I may randomly switch between terms, including Wi-Fi, WLAN, Wireless, Wireless Access Point, etc. Remember they are all the same thing with different names!)
Wireless technology has evolved quite a bit over the years. The biggest, and most commonly noted feature for consumers is that it has gotten faster. Wireless technology, just like every other kind of technology in existence today, is based on a set of standards that manufacturers use to produce the technology so that all of the pieces (software and hardware) can easily communicate with each other. Wi-Fi is based on a set of standards called IEEE 802.11.
Now you may have been in the store looking for a wireless router or other device to give your home or office a wireless access point to connect to. You may or may not recall that this standard is usually one of the specs to consider when shopping for these devices. When wireless was new, you were probably shopping for a wireless router that was 802.11b. Later, you were shopping for a better, faster router that was 802.11g. The third and most current generation is 802.11n. These are several different “versions” of 802.11, but with the release of each new version, the set of guidelines or sub-standards for that particular version of 802.11 defines a faster and more reliable technology than its predecessor.
Today, wireless networks are EVERYWHERE. If you have a wireless device or newer laptop, you can drive around your neighborhood or city and watch all the networks show up and disappear on your computer’s wireless network resource window. These days, all colleges have campus-wide wireless networks that are accessible to students and faculty. And to go one step further, cities have been working for awhile now to bring city-wide wireless to its residents, although not all city-wide networks are free. Some charge a small premium per hour or per session to help recoup the costs of the service.
For a more in-depth explanation on Wi-Fi, check out the definition for Wi-Fi on Wikipedia.
Still confused about this topic? Leave your question in the comments below and let us know!
Tags: WiFi, Wireless Technologies
So eventually, with the city-wide access, will we be able to drop our internet providers for a free or cheap way to access the internet?
Not necessarily. Let’s take Madison, WI for example. We still need a third party Internet Service Provider (ISP) like Charter to access the Internet in our homes and offices. The wireless city access that’s setup is only a downtown service, and you could pay to access it on your mobile device or laptop while you’re downtown (since you can’t access your home Internet from downtown).
I’m not sure what the politics are like if a city provides access to the entire city and acts as a competitor to a third party that already “owns” that particular area. It may already exist like this in some cities, but I’m not entirely sure.