Thursday, March 22, 2007

History

Wi-Fi uses both single carrier direct-sequence spread spectrum radio technology (part of the larger family of spread spectrum systems) and multi-carrier OFDM (Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing) radio technology. These regulations then enabled the development of Wi-Fi, its onetime competitor HomeRF, and Bluetooth.
Unlicensed spread spectrum was first made available by the Federal Communications Commission in 1985 and these FCC regulations were later copied with some changes in many other countries enabling use of this technology in all major countries.[11] The FCC action was proposed by Michael Marcus of the FCC staff in 1980 and the subsequent controversial regulatory action took 5 more years. It was part of a broader proposal to allow civil use of spread spectrum technology and was opposed at the time by main stream equipment manufacturers and many radio system operators.
The precursor to Wi-Fi was invented in 1991 by NCR Corporation/AT&T (later Lucent & Agere Systems) in Nieuwegein, the Netherlands. It was initially intended for cashier systems; the first wireless products were brought on the market under the name WaveLAN with speeds of 1 Mbit/s to 2 Mbit/s. Vic Hayes, who held the chair of IEEE 802.11 for 10 years and has been named the 'father of Wi-Fi,' was involved in designing standards such as IEEE 802.11b, 802.11a and 802.11g.

[edit] Origin and meaning of the term 'Wi-Fi'
Despite the similarity between the terms 'Wi-Fi' and 'Hi-Fi', statements reportedly made by Phil Belanger of the Wi-Fi Alliance contradict the popular conclusion that 'Wi-Fi' stands for 'Wireless Fidelity.' According to Mr. Belanger, the Interbrand Corporation developed the brand 'Wi-Fi' for the Wi-Fi Alliance to use to describe WLAN products that are based on the IEEE 802.11 standards. In Mr. Belanger's words, "Wi-Fi and the yin yang style logo were invented by Interbrand. We (the founding members of the Wireless Ethernet Compatibility Alliance, now called the Wi-Fi Alliance) hired Interbrand to come up with the name and logo that we could use for our interoperability seal and marketing efforts. We needed something that was a little catchier than 'IEEE 802.11b Direct Sequence'."
One possibility for the origin of the actual term is a simplified spelling of "Wi-Phy" or "Wireless Physical Network Layer".
The Wi-Fi Alliance themselves invoked the term 'Wireless Fidelity' with the marketing of a tag line, "The Standard for Wireless Fidelity," but later removed the tag from their marketing. The Wi-Fi Alliance now seems to discourage propagation of the notion that 'Wi-Fi' stands for 'Wireless Fidelity', but it has been referred to as such by the Wi-Fi Alliance in White Papers currently held in their knowledge base:
"... a promising market for wireless fidelity (Wi-Fi) network equipment."
"A Short History of WLANs... The association created the Wi-Fi (Wireless Fidelity) logo to indicate that a product had been certified for interoperability."

8 comments:

Mitesh Rasaikar said...

I am using a wi-fi connection & i am very happy with it but jusy\t wanted to ask cn u give me some tips regarding thye security?? i am worried that nobody should hack my connection.

Johnny Swift
Rishabh sha International
www.rishabhesha.com

sherry said...

I am using a wi-fi connection & i am very happy with it but jusy\t wanted to ask cn u give me some tips regarding thye security?? i am worried that nobody should hack my connection.

===================================

ifra

ifra

Unknown said...

I am using wi-fi in my office since 2years and it has got a lot of problems, i am not happy with it at all, i feel intert with wires is a better option

=================================

Nikhilesh

Massachusetts Treatment Centers

Friscon Consulting said...

I am really happy using a Wi-Fi connection but had one doubt is it secure???

Unknown said...

im using a wi-fi connection in ma office since a long time but im worried about its scurity because of its getting hacked can help me out with its security...

====================
Rishabh02

Massachusetts Treatment Centers

Muhammed said...

Hi, i am planning to apply for a wireless internet from iSP provider. In the meantime i heard that there are some router which can get unsecured wireless connections from longer distance. is it true?

Unknown said...

I have been using wifi connection since long time and have no issue but want to know should i buy a new routers now as this current router of mine is 7 years old so security new in nowsdays routers.

Do let me know what you recommend guys ?

Speed Lover said...

@garmina-You can upgrade your router which is recommended.