In full-WIRELESS FIDELITY(WI-FI)
wireless networking technological innovation that uses radio waves to allow high-speed data transfer over short ranges.
Wi-Fi technology has its origins in a 1985 ruling by the U.S. Federal Communications Commission that released several bands of the radio spectrum for unlicensed use. Technology firms began building wireless networks and gadgets to take advantage of the newly available radio spectrum, but without a typical wireless standard the movement remained fragmented, as gadgets from different manufacturers were rarely compatible. Eventually a panel of industry managements came up with a common standard, which was approved by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) in 1997. Two years later, a group of major companies formed the Wireless Ethernet Compatibility Alliance (WECA), a global nonprofit organization created to promote the new wireless standard. WECA named the new technological innovation Wi-Fi.
The popularity of Wi-Fi has grown continously. Wi-Fi allows local area networks (LANs) to operate without wiring and cabling, making it a popular choice for home, business and office network systems. Wi-Fi can also be used to provide wireless broadband Internet access for many modern devices, such as laptops, mobile phones, PDAs, and electronic gaming consoles(systems). Wireless-enabled devices are able to connect to the Internet when they are near areas that have Wi-Fi access, called "hot spots".Hot spots have become typical, with many public places such as airports, hotel and resorts, book shops, and coffee shops(cafes) offering Wi-Fi access.
