Wi-Fi was originally a brand licensed by the Wi-Fi Alliance to describe the embedded technology of wireless local area networks (WLAN) based on the IEEE 802.11 specifications. Use of the term has broadened over time and is generically used to describe the wireless interface of mobile computing devices, such as laptops in LANs. The term Wi-Fi was chosen as a play on the term "Hi-Fi", but is widely (and incorrectly) thought to be an abbreviation for wireless fidelity. Wi-Fi is widely used for a variety of purposes including Internet and VoIP phone access, gaming, and basic connectivity of consumer electronics such as televisions, DVD players, and digital cameras.
A person with a Wi-Fi enabled device such as a PC, cell phone or PDA can connect to the Internet when in proximity of an access point. The region covered by one or several access points is called a hotspot. Hotspots can range from a single room to many square miles of overlapping hotspots. Wi-Fi can also be used to create a mesh network. Both architectures are used in community networks.
Wi-Fi at home
Home Wi-Fi clients come in many shapes and sizes, from stationary PCs to digital cameras. The trend today is to incorporate wireless into every electronic where mobility is desired. Wi-Fi devices in home or consumer-type environments connect in the following ways:
- Via a broadband Internet connection into a single router which can serve both wired and wireless clients
- Ad-hoc mode for client to client connections
- Built into non-computer devices to enable wireless connectivity to other devices or the Internet
Wi-Fi in Business
Business and industrial Wi-Fi has taken off, with the trends in implementation varying greatly over the years. Current technology trends in the corporate wireless world are:
- Dramatically increasing the number of Wi-Fi Access Points in an environment, in order to provide redundancy,support fast roaming and increasing overall network capacity by using more channels and/or creating smaller cells
- Designing for wireless voice applications (VoWLAN or WVOIP)
- Moving toward 'thin' Access Points, with more of the network intelligence housed in a centralized network appliance; relegating individual Access Points to be simply 'dumb' radios
- Outdoor applications utilizing true mesh topologies
- A proactive, self-managed network that functions as a security gateway, firewall, DHCP server, intrusion detection system, and a myriad of other features not previously considered relevant to a wireless network.
Wi-Fi at Hotspots
The most publically visible use of Wi-Fi is at hotspots. These trends include:
- Free Wi-Fi at venues like Panera Bread, It's a Grind Coffee House, and over 100,000 locations in the USA has been growing in popularity. According to a door-to-door survey in San Jose, CA, the number of venues and users is growing fast.
- Paid Wi-Fi at venues like Starbucks, McDonalds, and at hotels. This trend is growing rapidly at venues that require a higher rate of customer churn, such as sit-down restaurants.
- According to Muni Wireless, metropolitan-wide WiFi (Mu-Fi) already has more than 300 projects in process.
For more information, you can refer:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wi-Fi