Chapter 6: The Wi-Fi Standards Spelled Out

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Overview

A wireless local area network (WLAN) is a shared-medium communications network that broadcasts information over wireless links to be received by all stations (e.g. computing devices). Most of today's WLANs are built upon the IEEE 802.11 family of standards. These standards define technical specifications or guidelines advocated by specific organizations in order to establish consistency in hardware and/or software development.

Because of the alphabet soup nature of the 802.11 series, all 802.11 standards / specifications / technologies are commonly referred to as "Wi-Fi" (the original 802.11 specification is the exception). It is noted, however, that "Wi-Fi" is also a trademark of the Wi-Fi Alliance, a nonprofit organization originally formed as the Wireless Ethernet Compatibility Alliance (WECA).

Wi-Fi stands apart from other wireless technologies because it operates on unlicensed spectrum, which means that large telecommunications companies don't control it. That freedom allows for a "cauldron of innovation" that is leading to a brave new world for Wi-Fi technology in homes and businesses.

Now mainstream, Wi-Fi technology for broadband wireless networking is cheap, easy to deploy and is found throughout the world. To understand how and why all of this is happening, it's important to understand a bit about Wi-Fi's technology, its standards, history, and even its future.

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