Who does not know today what WiFi is? The wireless connection that prevails on our devices, be it computers, tablets or our Android phones, is used to connect to the router and access the Internet. However, although it seems that we have heard this name all our lives, It wasn’t always called that..
The WiFi connection has had other names since its birth, also with very different applications from those we give them today. Let’s take a look at all names It had IEEE 802.11 b Direct Sequence connectivity, as well as a vision into the near future.
The story of the world’s most famous connection
It was in the 1940s when an actress (and engineer), Hedy Lamarr, developed a secret communication system that couldn’t be interfered with by third parties. This would be an early version of frequency hopping used for the creation of radio-guided torpedoes, in the environment of World War II. These evaded enemy detection and set a precedent for the development of a wireless network for inter-island communication in Hawaii, called ALOHAnet.
Later, in the early 1990s, the well-known companies AT&T and NCR used this technology to the cash registers were connected. In this case, the name it received was WaveLAN. Other names dropped were WECA (for the first name of the Wi-Fi Alliance) and DragonFly.
These are the first indications of a connection that would later become more popular in other areas. The first WiFi connection, called IEEE 802.11, originated in 1997 but was not expanded until the founding of the Wireless Ethernet Compatibility Alliance (now known as the Wi-Fi Alliance) in 1999. In the beginning, only ten companies were part of the collectiveToday there are more than 700.
One of the founders of the Wi-Fi Alliance said that the word WiFi means nothing: It’s pure marketing strategy.. This term was introduced by Interbrand, which proposed up to 10 names to the Wi-Fi Alliance. Regarding the logo, it plays with the yin and yang symbol (so it has a white part and a dark part).
This IEEE 802.11 standard began to evolve by adding letters for name the following versions: IEEE 802.11ba debuted in 1999, IEEE 802.11ga added OFDMA (Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing) in 2003, and both versions like the newer IEEE 802.11n (where MIMO is included to allow more outputs and entries).
Wi-Fi Forever: The Concepts We Have Yet to Learn
Since the official launch, this wireless connection technology has undergone several changes that point to its evolution. One of the latest concepts we’ve had to embrace is WiFi 6, named after its 802.11ax specification, which was announced in 2021, but This is not the only one.
WiFi 7 is on the way, with the promise of becoming a “milestone” according to the report presented last year 2022. Also called 802.11be, it not only ensures greater data transmission and better security, but will also allow there simultaneous connection of multiple devices.
We still have WiFi for a while: according to IEEE SA member Dorothy Stanley, it’s a technology that will continue in the years to come. “I think we will see more WiFi”, are her words, she also comments that they are working to have greater range, performance and compatibility with previous versions.
There is no doubt about the long life this type of connection still left, which they saw as your domain may be compromised with the expansion of new networks like 5G, or new satellite connections like the Starlink project which recently lowered its price.
Anyway, we reviewed the history of the birth of WiFi, discovering its curious names. Now we will wait for a future in which it will become even more important and in which the service will improve its qualities, offering us a good connectivity wherever we are.
cover image | Pepu Ricca with Bing Image Creator
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