What are wifi networks

What Is Wi-Fi?

Wi-Fi is a wireless networking technology that allows devices such as computers (laptops and desktops), mobile devices (smart phones and wearables), and other equipment (printers and video cameras) to interface with the Internet. It allows these devices—and many more—to exchange information with one another, creating a network. Internet connectivity occurs through a wireless router. When you access Wi-Fi, you are connecting to a wireless router that allows your Wi-Fi-compatible devices to interface with the Internet.

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What does Wi-Fi mean?

Wi-Fi is not an acronym; it is a brand name created by a marketing firm that’s meant to serve as an interoperability seal for marketing efforts.

How does Wi-Fi work?

On the technical side, the IEEE 802.11 standard defines the protocols that enable communications with current Wi-Fi-enabled wireless devices, including wireless routers and wireless access points. Wireless access points support different IEEE standards. Each standard is an amendment that was ratified over time. The standards operate on varying frequencies, deliver different bandwidth, and support different numbers of channels.

What is a wireless access point?

A wireless access point (AP) allows wireless devices to connect to the wireless network. Having a Cisco wireless network makes it easy to bring new devices online and provides flexible support to mobile workers.
What a wireless access point does for your network is similar to what an amplifier does for your home stereo. An access point takes the bandwidth coming from a router and stretches it so that many devices can go on the network from farther distances away. But a wireless access point does more than simply extend Wi-Fi. It can also give useful data about the devices on the network, provide proactive security, and serve many other practical purposes.

What is a wireless router?

Wireless routers are commonly found in homes. They’re the hardware devices that Internet service providers use to connect you to their cable or xDSL Internet network. A wireless router is sometimes referred to as a wireless local area network (WLAN) device. A wireless network is also called a Wi-Fi network. A wireless router combines the networking functions of a wireless access point and a router. Read more about wireless routers.

What is a desktop Wi-Fi router?

The most common way for users to connect to the Internet wirelessly is with a desktop wireless (Wi-Fi) router. These routers look like small boxes with multiple short antennas to help broadcast the signal throughout a home or workplace. The farther a user is from the base Wi-Fi router, the weaker the signal. So multiple wireless routers, called range extenders, usually are placed throughout the workspace. Wi-Fi range extenders, placed in an array, boost or extend Internet coverage.

What is a mobile hotspot?

A mobile hotspot is a common feature on smartphones with both tethered and untethered connections. When you turn on your phone’s mobile hotspot, you share your wireless network connection with other devices that can then access the Internet.

What is portable Wi-Fi hotspot?

A portable Wi-Fi hotspot is a mobile hotspot obtained through a cell phone carrier. It’s a small device that uses cellular towers that broadcast high-speed 3G or 4G broadband signals. Multiple devices, like iPads and laptops, can then connect wirelessly to the device, which in turn seamlessly connects to the Internet where ever you travel. Similar to a cell phone, the portable hotspot’s monthly cost is based on the data usage plan you select. A portable Wi-Fi hotspot is a more reliable way to access the Internet than searching for static public Wi-Fi hotspots.

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What Is a Wi-Fi Network?

A Wi-Fi network is a wireless local-area network (WLAN) that uses Wi-Fi. The Wi-Fi standard has achieved nearly universal adoption for supporting WLANs and providing internet access in residential, enterprise, and public settings.

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How do Wi-Fi networks benefit organizations?

By allowing network and online access to happen anywhere, a Wi-Fi network increases productivity and provides convenience. And it has the power to redefine organizational goals and how they’re achieved, not just in offices but also in factories, healthcare facilities, schools—anywhere computing is performed.

What is the 802.11 standard?

In 1997, the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) created 802.11b, the first version of the standard that became Wi-Fi.

All Wi-Fi versions have 802.11 designations, each with its own suffix. The three most recent versions are also known by simple names: Wi-Fi 4 (802.11n, released in 2009), Wi-Fi 5 (802.11ac, released in 2014), and Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax, released in 2019).

How does Wi-Fi differ from 5G?

Wi-Fi is a wireless networking technology that has become standard for users who wirelessly connect to the internet in places such as offices or homes. 5G is a cellular wireless standard originally designed for the voice calls of mobile users who may access networks over large geographic areas.

Over time, cellular networks were improved to support not only voice but video and other data-intensive applications.

How does Wi-Fi work?

Like broadcast media, Wi-Fi transmits information over radio waves. Data is sent in packets that contain layers with labels and instructions. Those instructions, along with the unique Media Access Control (MAC) addresses assigned to endpoints, enable the packets to be routed to their intended locations.

The Wi-Fi standard is continuously evolving, but each successive upgrade is designed to be backward-compatible with previous versions.

How are Wi-Fi networks set up?

Creating a Wi-Fi network can be as simple as acquiring a wireless router, performing setup steps, and connecting a compatible endpoint, such as a laptop. See the «Wi-Fi network architecture components» section below for more details on Wi-Fi network architecture.

Are Wi-Fi networks secure?

A Wi-Fi network is inherently more vulnerable to hacking and other security breaches than a wired network.

With a wired network, an adversary must either gain physical access to an internal network or break in through an external firewall. To access Wi-Fi, one must merely be within range of the network and get through security checkpoints.

The most basic method of securing Wi-Fi is to use MAC addresses to disallow unauthorized stations. But determined adversaries may be able to join networks by spoofing authorized addresses.

The most common method of securing Wi-Fi is encryption. Several methods of encryption have been introduced, including those used in Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP) and Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA).

In terms of authentication, currently WPA2 is the standard authentication method. It provides acceptable security as long as strong passwords are used.

VPNs (virtual private networks) can be used to improve security for users connecting through Wi-Fi networks, especially public ones.

How does roaming work with Wi-Fi networks?

For any sized network, additional access points can extend the area of access.

Wi-Fi standards are designed to allow a nonstationary user’s connection to jump from one access point to another, though some users and applications may experience brief dropouts. Even with disjointed (nonoverlapping) access points, a user’s connection is simply paused until connection with the next access point.

Additional access points can be wired or wireless. When access points overlap, they can be configured to help optimize the network by sharing and managing traffic loads. This process is an important part of the Wi-Fi 6 standard.

What is a mesh network?

A mesh network extends a Wi-Fi network’s reach and performance, through the use of numerous access points that connect with each other wirelessly. A mesh network provides multiple possible transmission paths and, with intelligent routing algorithms, can manage routing to optimize performance.

Mesh networks help solve the challenge of providing Wi-Fi in large public areas such as libraries, convention halls, stadiums, and campuses.

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