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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wi-Fi

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Wi-Fi or WiFi is technology for radio wireless local area networking of devices based on the IEEE 802.11 standards. Wi‑Fi is a trademark of the Wi-Fi Alliance, ...

‎WIFI (AM) · ‎Wi-Fi Protected Setup (WPS) · ‎IEEE 802.11 · ‎Wireless LAN

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Category 6 cable, commonly referred to as Cat 6, is a standardized twisted pair cable for Ethernet and other network physical layers that is backward compatible with the Category 5/5e and Category 3 cable standards

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blue tooth was invented in 1974 by sven mattison and jaap haartsen 

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blue tooth was invented in 1974 by sven mattison and jaap haartsen 

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Dial-up Internet access is a form of Internet access that uses the facilities of the public switched telephone network (PSTN) to establish a connection to an Internet service provider (ISP) by dialing a telephone number on a conventional telephone line.

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Dial-up Internet access is a form of Internet access that uses the facilities of the public switched telephone network (PSTN) to establish a connection to an Internet service provider (ISP) by dialing a telephone number on a conventional telephone line. Dial-up connections use modems to decode audio signals into data to send to a router or computer, and to encode signals from the latter two devices to send to another modem.

In 1979, Tom Truscott and Steve Bellovin, graduates of Duke University, created an early predecessor to dial-up Internet access called the USENET. The USENET was a UNIX based system that used a dial-up connection to transfer data through telephone modems. Dial-up Internet has been around since the 1980s via public providers such as NSFNET-linked universities. The BBC established Internet access via Brunel University in the United Kingdom in 1989. Dial-up was first offered commercially in 1992 by Pipex in the United Kingdom and Sprint in the United States. After the introduction of commercial broadband in the late 1990s, dial-up Internet access became less popular in the mid-2000s. It is still used where other forms are not available or where the cost is too high, as in some rural or remote areas.

Dial-up connections to the Internet require no additional infrastructure other than the telephone network and the modems and servers needed to make and answer the calls. Because telephone access is widely available, dial-up is often the only choice available for rural or remote areas, where broadband installations are not prevalent due to low population density and high infrastructure cost. Dial-up access may also be an alternative for users on limited budgets, as it is offered free by some ISPs, though broadband is increasingly available at lower prices in many countries due to market competition.[citation needed ]

Dial-up requires time to establish a telephone connection (up to several seconds, depending on the location) and perform configuration for protocol synchronization before data transfers can take place. In locales with telephone connection charges, each connection incurs an incremental cost. If calls are time-metered, the duration of the connection incurs costs.[citation needed ]

Dial-up access is a transient connection, because either the user, ISP or phone company terminates the connection. Internet service providers will often set a limit on connection durations to allow sharing of resources, and will disconnect the user-requiring reconnection and the costs and delays associated with it. Technically inclined users often find a way to disable the auto-disconnect program such that they can remain connected for more days than one.[citation needed ]

A 2008 Pew Research Center study stated that only 10% of US adults still used dial-up Internet access. The study found that the most common reason for retaining dial-up access was high broadband prices. Users cited lack of infrastructure as a reason less often than stating that they would never upgrade to broadband. That number had fallen to 6% by 2010, and to 3% by 2013.

The CRTC estimated that there were 336,000 Canadian dial-up users in 2010.

Broadband Internet access via cable, digital subscriber line, satellite and FTTx has replaced dial-up access in many parts of the world. Broadband connections typically offer speeds of 700 kbit/s or higher for two-thirds more than the price of dial-up on average. In addition broadband connections are always on, thus avoiding the need to connect and disconnect at the start and end of each session. Broadband does not require exclusive use of a phone line, and thus one can access the Internet and at the same time make and receive voice phone calls without having a second phone line.

However, many rural areas remain without high speed Internet despite the eagerness of potential customers. This can be attributed to population, location, or sometimes ISPs' lack of interest due to little chance of profitability and high costs to build the required infrastructure. Some dial-up ISPs have responded to the increased competition by lowering their rates and making dial-up an attractive option for those who merely want email access or basic web browsing.

Dial-up Internet access has undergone a precipitous fall in usage, and potentially approaches extinction as modern users turn towards broadband. In contrast to the year 2000 when about 34% of the U.S. population used dial-up, this dropped to 3% in 2013. One contributing factor to the extinction of dial-up is the bandwidth requirements of newer computer programs, like antivirus software, which automatically download sizable updates in the background when a connection to the Internet is first made. These background downloads can take several minutes or longer and, until all updates are completed, they can severely impact the amount of bandwidth available to other applications like web browsers. Since an "always on" broadband is the norm expected by most newer applications being developed[citation needed ], this automatic background downloading trend is expected to continue to eat away at dial-up's available bandwidth to the detriment of dial-up users' applications. Many newer websites also now assume broadband speeds as the norm and when confronted with slower dial-up speeds may drop (timeout) these slower connections to free up communication resources. On websites that are designed to be more dial-up friendly, use of a reverse proxy prevents dial-ups from being dropped as often but can introduce long wait periods for dial-up users caused by the buffering used by a reverse proxy to bridge the different data rates. Despite the rapid decline, dial-up Internet still does exist in aforementioned rural areas, or many area of developing and underdeveloped nations. It is also important to note, dial-up does serve as an alternate in areas, where broadband Internet is not viable.

Modern dial-up modems typically have a maximum theoretical transfer speed of 56 kbit/s (using the V.90 or V.92 protocol), although in most cases, 40-50 kbit/s is the norm. Factors such as phone line noise as well as the quality of the modem itself play a large part in determining connection speeds.[citation needed ]

Some connections may be as low as 20 kbit/s in extremely noisy environments, such as in a hotel room where the phone line is shared with many extensions, or in a rural area, many miles from the phone exchange. Other factors such as long loops, loading coils, pair gain, electric fences (usually in rural locations), and digital loop carriers can also slow connections to 20 kbit/s or lower.

-Alexis Madrigal, paraphrasing Glenn Fleishman

Analog telephone lines are digitally switched and transported inside a Digital Signal 0 once reaching the telephone company's equipment. Digital Signal 0 is 64 kbit/s and reserves 8 kbit/s for signaling information; therefore a 56 kbit/s connection is the highest that will ever be possible with analog phone lines.

Dial-up connections usually have latency as high as 150 ms or even more; this is longer than for many forms of broadband, such as cable or DSL, but typically less than satellite connections. Longer latency can make video conferencing and online gaming difficult, if not impossible. An increasing amount of Internet content such as streaming media will not work at dial-up speeds.

Video games released from the mid-1990s to the mid-2000s that utilized Internet access such as , Red Faction, , Final Fantasy XI, Phantasy Star Online, , Unreal Tournament, Halo: Combat Evolved, , Quake 3: Arena, Starsiege: Tribes and Ragnarok Online, etc., accommodated for 56k dial-up with limited data transfer between the game servers and user's personal computer. The first consoles to provide Internet connectivity, the Dreamcast and PlayStation 2, supported dial-up as well as broadband. The GameCube could use dial-up and broadband connections, but this was used in very few games and required a separate adapter. The original Xbox exclusively required a broadband connection. Many computer and video games released since the mid-2000s do not even include the option to use dial-up. However, there are exceptions to this, such as Vendetta Online, which can still run on a dial-up modem.

Using compression to exceed 56k

The V.42, V.42bis and V.44 standards allow modems to accept uncompressed data at a rate faster than the line rate. These algorithms use data compression to achieve higher throughput.

For instance, a 53.3 kbit/s connection with V.44 can transmit up to 53.3 × 6 = 320 kbit/s if the offered data stream can be compressed that much. However, the compression ratio varies considerably. ZIP archives, JPEG images, MP3, video, etc. are already compressed. A modem might be sending compressed files at approximately 50 kbit/s, uncompressed files at 160 kbit/s, and pure text at 320 kbit/s, or any rate in this range.

Compression by the ISP

As telephone-based Internet lost popularity in the mid-2000s, some Internet service providers such as TurboUSA, Netscape, CdotFree, and NetZero started using data compression to increase the perceived speed. As an example, EarthLink advertises "surf the Web up to 7x faster" using a compression program that squeezes images, text/html, and SWF flash animations prior to transmission across the phone line.

The pre-compression operates much more efficiently than the on-the-fly compression of V.44 modems. Typically website text is compacted to 5% thus increasing effective throughput to approximately 1000 kbit/s, and JPEG/GIF/PNG images are lossy-compressed to 15-20%, increasing effective throughput up to 300 kbit/s.

The drawback of this approach is a loss in quality, where the graphics acquire compression artifacts taking on a blurry or colorless appearance; however the transfer speed is dramatically improved. (If desired, the user may choose to view uncompressed images instead, but at a much slower load rate.) Since streaming music and video are already compressed at the source, they are typically passed by the ISP unaltered.

List of dial-up speeds & sounds

Note that the values given are maximum values, and actual values may be slower under certain conditions (for example, noisy phone lines).

Other devices, such as satellite receivers and digital video recorders (like TiVo), have also used dial-up connection using a household phone socket. This connection allowed to download data at request and to report usage (e.g. ordering pay-per-view) to the service provider. This feature did not require an Internet service provider account - instead, the device's internal modem dialed directly the server of the service provider. These devices may experience difficulties when operating on a VoIP line because the compression could alter the modem signal. Later, these devices moved to using an Ethernet connection to the user's Internet router, which became a more convenient approach due to the grown popularity of broadband. A broadband connection also provides much higher speed, which may allow richer functionality.

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Dial-up Internet access is a form of Internet access that uses the facilities of the public switched telephone network (PSTN) to establish a connection to an Internet service provider (ISP) by dialing a telephone number on a conventional telephone line.

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bluetooth is king Haralds nickname (blatand) meaning bluetooth

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you turn on your blue tooth device on and make it discoverable. the way you make it discoverable depends on the device.

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Networking cables are networking hardware used to connect one network device to other network devices or to connect two or more computers to share printers, scanners etc.

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Networking cables are networking hardware used to connect one network device to other network devices or to connect two or more computers to share printers, scanners etc. Different types of network cables, such as coaxial cable, optical fiber cable, and twisted pair cables, are used depending on the network's physical layer, topology, and size.

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Cat is short for "category" and generally denotes the speed the cable is able to carry.  Ethernet cables offer higher, and more consistent throughput, with less interference, the higher in category you go. Are especially favorable for gaming, as well as plenty of other networking scenarios such as downloading and streaming media.  The number after "Cat" refers to the specification for the wiring. The maximum distance for an Ethernet cable is 100 meters, which is generally not too limiting for most home applications.

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blue tooth is a d

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a high-capacity transmission technique using a wide range of frequencies, which enables a large number of messages to be communicated simultaneously.

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The WiFi inventors are John O’Saullivan , Graham Daniele , Diethelm Ostry , Terence Percival , John Deane

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are cables that conjoin computers, terminals, consoles, TVs and monitors cables like HDMI and Ethernet cables.
-Tyler

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wifi works off of the same principal as other devices-it uses radio frequencies are completly diffrent say from walky talkies, car radios, cell phones and weather radio. (carleigh)

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you can plug a cat 5 cable into somthing to help the network ben you suck

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isaac

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"a mobile communications standard intended to replace 3g"

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The Internet is a global Computer Network that provides a variety of information and a way to connect with others.

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5G is a new type of Mobile Network that could come out in the future. " Blazing fast 5G wireless networks promise to unlock the potential of internet connected devices, or the Internet of Things - making driverless cars and talking fridges a reality...."

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With most European operators targeting 2020 for its rollout, 5G is the term on everyone's lips at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.

How does 5G work?

Like the 4G networks currently widely available, 5G is based on radio frequencies, the same used for television broadcasts, walkie-talkies, wi-fi signals or a garage door remote control.

It will use a higher radio frequency, which is not in use and can move data at a much faster speed.

But since higher radio frequencies don't travel as far as lower frequencies, it will rely on denser arrays of small antennas and artificial intelligence to offer data speeds up to 50 or 100 times faster than current 4G networks.

What can it do?

5G will allow people to send texts, make calls, and browse the web as always, but will dramatically increase the speed at which data is transferred across the network.

This will make it easier to download and upload Ultra HD and 3D video and allow smartphones to run more complex mobile internet apps.

5G will also make room for the thousands of Internet-connected devices entering our everyday world.

The combination of speed and quicker response times could unlock the full capabilities of other hot trends in technology, offering a boost to self-driving cars, drones, virtual reality and the wider Internet of Things.

Beyond speed, the biggest benefit of 5G is its low latency or the short lag time between a device pinging the network and getting a response.

A 5G network virtually eliminates it, meaning a surgeon may not need to be in the same room as a patient in the future for example.

Why is 5G seen as essential?

The tech industry is counting on 5G to trigger a wave of growth in equipment sales and mobile services.

For years telecom operators and device makers have debated common standards, which will make it possible to have a similar network everywhere and develop products that could be targeted to it.

What are the obstacles to its adoption?

The industry is still fighting over the nitty-gritty details of the technology itself and a lack of common standards could slow its adoption.

5G compatible phones are still not on the market and in many countries 4G deployment is not yet complete. In a number of African countries, it is only just starting.

Telecoms operators must make a massive investment to deploy 5G.

Deutsche Telekom CEO Timotheus Hoettges has estimated the cost of providing 5G networks in Europe alone at €300 billion to €500 billion ($AU412 billion to $785 billion).

5G also faces competition from other technologies that may be better suited for the connected devices, such as French firm Sigfox's non-cellular IoT network or LoRa, a rival non-standardised low power wide area (LPWA) offering backed by France-based Orange amongst others.

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Explainer: What is 5G and how does it work?

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With most European operators targeting 2020 for its rollout, 5G is the term on everyone's lips at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. Like the 4G networks currently widely available, 5G is based on radio frequencies, the same used for television broadcasts, walkie-talkies, wi-fi signals or a garage door remote control.

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a standard for the short-range wireless interconnection of mobile phones, computers, and other electronic devices.

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5G 5th generation moblie networks or 5th generation wireless systems, abbreviated 5G, are the proposed next telecommunications standards beyond the currnt advanced standards

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a facility allowing computers, smartphones, or other devices to connect to the Internet or communicate with one another wirelessly within a particular area.

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  what is blue tooth?                                   blue tooth is a standard short range interconnections for mobile phones, computers and other electronic devices.

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  what is blue tooth?                                   blue tooth is a standard short range interconnections for mobile phones, computers and other electronic devices.

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network communications is a home area network which is a residential LAN used for communication between digital devices. Ture

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LAN or Local Area Networks are cables or fibres used to connect computers or terminals seperated in local areas
-Tyler

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bluetooth got its name because it was king Haralds nickname (blatand) which translates to bluetooth

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"A VPN(Virtual Private Network) is a secure tunnel between two or more devices."
VPNs protect private information from "snooping, interference and censorship."

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Learn what a VPN is in under 5 minutes. See how to use a secure VPN tunnel to browse the internet with privacy and proxy your location without restrictions.

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wifi is defined as an abbreviation for wireless fidelity,meaning you can access or connect to a network using radio waves ,without needing to use wires

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A local area network (LAN) is a computer network that interconnects computers within a limited area such as a residence, school, laboratory, university campus or office building.

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A local area network ( LAN) is a computer network that interconnects computers within a limited area such as a residence, school, laboratory, university campus or office building. By contrast, a wide area network (WAN) not only covers a larger geographic distance, but also generally involves leased telecommunication circuits.

Ethernet and Wi-Fi are the two most common technologies in use for local area networks. Historical network technologies include ARCNET, Token Ring and AppleTalk.

The increasing demand and usage of computers in universities and research labs in the late 1960s generated the need to provide high-speed interconnections between computer systems. A 1970 report from the Lawrence Radiation Laboratory detailing the growth of their "Octopus" network gave a good indication of the situation.

A number of experimental and early commercial LAN technologies were developed in the 1970s. Ethernet was developed at Xerox PARC between 1973 and 1974. Cambridge Ring was developed at Cambridge University starting in 1974. ARCNET was developed by Datapoint Corporation in 1976 and announced in 1977. It had the first commercial installation in December 1977 at Chase Manhattan Bank in New York. In 1979, the Electronic voting systems for the European Parliament was the first installation of a LAN connecting hundreds (420) of microprocessor-controlled voting terminals to a polling/selecting central unit with a multidrop bus with Master/slave (technology) arbitration.[dubious ]

The development and proliferation of personal computers using the CP/M operating system in the late 1970s, and later DOS-based systems starting in 1981, meant that many sites grew to dozens or even hundreds of computers. The initial driving force for networking was to share storage and printers, both of which were expensive at the time. There was much enthusiasm for the concept, and for several years, from about 1983 onward, computer industry pundits habitually declared the coming year to be, "The year of the LAN".

In practice, the concept was marred by the proliferation of incompatible physical layer and network protocol implementations, and a plethora of methods of sharing resources. Typically, each vendor would have its own type of network card, cabling, protocol, and network operating system. A solution appeared with the advent of Novell NetWare which provided even-handed support for dozens of competing card and cable types, and a much more sophisticated operating system than most of its competitors.

Of the competitors to NetWare, only Banyan Vines had comparable technical strengths, but Banyan never gained a secure base. 3Com produced 3+Share and Microsoft produced MS-Net. These then formed the basis for collaboration between Microsoft and 3Com to create a simple network operating system LAN Manager and its cousin, IBM's LAN Server. None of these enjoyed any lasting success; Netware dominated the personal computer LAN business from early after its introduction in 1983 until the mid-1990s when Microsoft introduced Windows NT.

In 1983, TCP/IP was first shown capable of supporting actual defense department applications on a Defense Communication Agency LAN testbed located at Reston, Virginia. The TCP/IP-based LAN successfully supported Telnet, FTP, and a Defense Department teleconferencing application. This demonstrated the feasibility of employing TCP/IP LANs to interconnect Worldwide Military Command and Control System (WWMCCS) computers at command centers throughout the United States. However, WWMCCS was superseded by the Global Command and Control System (GCCS) before that could happen.

During the same period, Unix workstations were using TCP/IP networking. Although the workstation market segment is now much reduced, the technologies developed in the area continue to be influential on the Internet and in all forms of networking-and the TCP/IP protocol has replaced IPX, AppleTalk, NBF, and other protocols used by the early PC LANs.

In 1979, the Electronic voting systems for the European Parliament was using 10 kilometers of simple unshielded twisted pair category 3 cable -the same cable used for telephone systems-installed inside the benches of the European Parliament Hemicycles in Strasbourg and Luxembourg.

Early Ethernet ( 10BASE-5 and 10BASE-2) used coaxial cable. Shielded twisted pair was used in IBM's Token Ring LAN implementation. In 1984, StarLAN showed the potential of simple unshielded twisted pair by using category 3 cable-the same cable used for telephone systems. This led to the development of 10BASE-T (and its twisted-pair successors) and structured cabling which is still the basis of most commercial LANs today.

While optical fiber cable is common for links between network switches, use of fiber to the desktop is rare.

In a wireless LAN, users have unrestricted movement within the coverage area. Wireless networks have become popular in residences and small businesses, because of their ease of installation. Most wireless LANs use Wi-Fi as wireless adapters are typically integrated into smartphones, tablet computers and laptops. Guests are often offered Internet access via a hotspot service.

Network topology describes the layout of interconnections between devices and network segments. At the data link layer and physical layer, a wide variety of LAN topologies have been used, including ring, bus, mesh and star.

Simple LANs generally consist of cabling and one or more switches. A switch can be connected to a router, cable modem, or ADSL modem for Internet access. A LAN can include a wide variety of other network devices such as firewalls, load balancers, and network intrusion detection. Advanced LANs are characterized by their use of redundant links with switches using the spanning tree protocol to prevent loops, their ability to manage differing traffic types via quality of service (QoS), and their ability to segregate traffic with VLANs.

At the higher network layers, protocols such as NetBIOS, IPX/SPX, AppleTalk and others were once common, but the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) has prevailed as the standard of choice.

LANs can maintain connections with other LANs via leased lines, leased services, or across the Internet using virtual private network technologies. Depending on how the connections are established and secured, and the distance involved, such linked LANs may also be classified as a metropolitan area network (MAN) or a wide area network (WAN).

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A local area network ( LAN) is a computer network that interconnects computers within a limited area such as a residence, school, laboratory, university campus or office building. By contrast, a wide area network (WAN) not only covers a larger geographic distance, but also generally involves leased telecommunication circuits.

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4G is 10x Faster than 3G. 4G offers average download speeds up to 14Mb/second in UK. 3G only offers about 1.5Mb/second in UK.

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Find out the difference between 3G and 4G and how it makes a difference being on the UK's biggest network - EE.

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bluetooth is a short range connection between phones computers consoles earpieces and much more-tyler

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bluetooth is a short range connection between phones computers consoles earpieces and much more-tyler

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blue tooth is a standard for short range wireless 

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blue tooth is a standard for short range wireless 

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Bluetooth wireless technology features low-bandwidth, short-range connection between two devices enabled to receive the data. The structure behind this technology is complicated, and the extent of operation is implementation specific.

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How did Bluetooth get its name? (By Rahni)

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How did Bluetooth get its name? (By Rahni)

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Bluetooth's name was originally from the 10th century, second King of Denmark, King Harald Bluetooth. He is famous for uniting Scandinavia into a single kingdom.

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NBN Can get you up to 100mbps in a Premium Plan (24mbps in the Standard Plan) while the maximum download speed of ADSL2+ is only 24mbps.

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How fast is the nbn compared to ADSL, cable or wireless services?

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The nbn is the fastest internet Aussies have ever seen. If you're wondering how it compares to wireless or ADSL, see a detailed nbn speed comparison here.

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The term broadband can mean multiple things, but many consumers associate it with the concept of high-speed Internet service installed at a specific location. Private networks in homes, schools, businesses and other organizations usually link to the Internet via fixed broadband.

History and common usages: Various universities, government, and private institutions created key pieces of the Internet during the 1970s and 1980s. Household connections to the Internet gained rapid popularity during the 1990s with the emergence of the World Wide Web (WWW). Fixed broadband Internet services became firmly entrenched as a standard for residential homes in developed countries during the 2000s, with ever increasing speeds. Meanwhile, national Wi-Fi hotspot providers began supporting a geographically dispersed network of fixed broadband sign on locations for their subscribers to use. More - Who Created the Internet?

Key technologies: Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN) technology supports simultaneous voice and data access over phone lines without requiring the use of a modem. It was the earliest example of high-speed (relative to available alternatives) Internet access service the consumer market. ISDN failed to gain widespread popularity due to competition from superior Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) and cable Internet services. Besides these options that involve cabling, fixed wireless broadband (not to be confused with mobile broadband) services based on microwave radio transmitters. The tower-to-tower communication on cellular networks also qualifies as a kind of fixed wireless broadband system.

Issues: Fixed broadband installations are attached to one physical location and not portable. Due to the cost of infrastructure, availability of these Internet services is sometimes limited to cities and suburbs (although fixed wireless systems work reasonably well in rural areas). Competition from mobile Internet services puts increasing pressure on fixed broadband providers to keep improving their networks and lowering costs.

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Compare and contrast the six fundamental types of network connections

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The term broadband can mean multiple things, but many consumers associate it with the concept of high-speed Internet service installed at a specific location. Private networks in homes, schools, businesses and other organizations usually link to the Internet via fixed broadband.

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VPN is short for Virtual Private Network. Think of your home network, or your office network, as private networks. Through a VPN connection, your computer, tablet or smartphone is able to securely connect with others on the Internet as if they were part of the same private network.

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How a VPN Works and What It Does for You

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Bluetooth is a standard for the "short range interconnection of mobile phones, computers and other electronic devices"
You can send a photo from one device to another via bluetooth.

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Created using PowToon -- Free sign up at http://www.powtoon.com/ . Make your own animated videos and animated presentations for free. PowToon is a free tool that allows you to develop cool animated clips and animated presentations for your website, office meeting, sales pitch, nonprofit fundraiser, product launch, video resume, or anything else you could use an animated explainer video.

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4g is the fourth generation of broadband cellular network technology

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WIFI is a "popular wireless networking technology that uses radio waves to provide high-speed internet and network connection."

The WI in WIFI stands for Wireless Internet and the FI stands for nothing.

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Wi-Fi is the name of a wireless networking technology that uses radio waves to provide wireless high-speed Internet and network connections. A common misconception is that the term Wi-Fi is short for " wireless fidelity," however this is not the case. Wi-Fi is simply a trademarked phrase that means IEEE 802.11x.

How Wi-Fi Networks Work

Wi-Fi networks have no physical wired connection between sender and receiver by using radio frequency ( RF) technology -- a frequency within the electromagnetic spectrum associated with radio wave propagation. When an RF current is supplied to an antenna, an electromagnetic field is created that then is able to propagate through space.

The cornerstone of any wireless network is an access point ( AP). The primary job of an access point is to broadcast a wireless signal that computers can detect and "tune" into. In order to connect to an access point and join a wireless network, computers and devices must be equipped with wireless network adapters.

The Wi-Fi Alliance

The Wi-Fi Alliance, the organization that owns the Wi-Fi registered trademark term, specifically defines Wi-Fi as any " wireless local area network (WLAN) products that are based on the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers' (IEEE) 802.11 standards."

Initially, Wi-Fi was used in place of only the 2.4GHz 802.11b standard, however the Wi-Fi Alliance has expanded the generic use of the Wi-Fi term to include any type of network or WLAN product based on any of the 802.11 standards, including 802.11b, 802.11a, dual-band and so on, in an attempt to stop confusion about wireless LAN interoperability.

Wi-Fi Support in Applications and Devices

Wi-Fi is supported by many applications and devices including video game consoles, home networks, PDAs, mobile phones, major operating systems, and other types of consumer electronics. Any products that are tested and approved as "Wi-Fi Certified" (a registered trademark) by the Wi-Fi Alliance are certified as interoperable with each other, even if they are from different manufacturers. For example, a user with a Wi-Fi Certified product can use any brand of access point with any other brand of client hardware that also is also "Wi-Fi Certified".

Products that pass this certification are required to carry an identifying seal on their packaging that states "Wi-Fi Certified" and indicates the radio frequency band used (2.5GHz for 802.11b, 802.11g, or 802.11n, and 5GHz for 802.11a).

Wi-Fi 6, or 802.11ax, is the latest Wi-Fi generation, announced in Sept. 2019, and offers improved performance and WPA3 security.

Top 5 Wi-Fi Related Questions

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Wi-Fi is the name of a wireless networking technology that uses radio waves to provide wireless high-speed Internet and network connections. A common misconception is that the term Wi-Fi is short for " wireless fidelity," however this is not the case. Wi-Fi is simply a trademarked phrase that means IEEE 802.11x.

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4g is a “mobile communications standard intended to replace 3g”. It allows wireless internet access at a much higher speed
4g stands for fourth generation.

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If you're looking to buy a new smartphone or computer you've probably seen advertisements and offers for 4G-compatible devices. You might even own a 4G-compatible device already.

But just what is 4G? How does it compare to existing 3G networks? And what is the current availability of 4G networks in Australia?

4G: the basics

Simply, "4G" is a marketing term that describes a fourth-generation mobile wireless cellular network. Telstra first offered 4G services in mid-2011 and now offers a range of 4G-compatible handsets, tablets and modems.

In August 2012 Optus began switching on 4G services in some cities - Sydney, Perth and Newcastle, with more to come - and in doing so became Australia's second 4G supplier.

Is 4G much better than 3G/NextG?

Mobile cellular networks evolve and a good example has been the way the initial 3G offering evolved with the introduction of high-speed data services.

In Australia, Telstra launched a 3G network called the NextG network in October 2006 with data download speeds between 550Kbps and 1.5Mbps. Over the next couple of years Telstra successively upgraded their network to provide improved data download and upload speeds.

In December 2008 Telstra boosted the speed of the NextG network to 21Mbps, utilising the Evolved High-Speed Packet Access (HSPA+) and Dual-Carrier HSPA standards.

4G networks will evolve in a similar way.

Evolving 4G

In 2007 the International Telecommunication Union's Radiocommunication Sector (ITU-R) defined a new global standard called International Mobile Telecommunications-Advanced (IMT-Advanced). The standard contains a list of features required before a network can be marketed as being "4G". Such features include (to quote the ITU):

compatibility of services within IMT and with fixed networks

capability of interworking with other radio access systems

high quality mobile services

worldwide roaming capability

enhanced peak data rates to support advanced services and applications.

What this means is that IMT-Advanced will be an internet protocol (IP) packet-switched network that incorporates Voice-over-IP (VoIP) rather than the separate telephone call channels used in 3G networks.

Another IMT-Advanced feature will be seamless connectivity and roaming across multiple network types including Wi-Fi with smooth handover.

Simply, a smooth handover means your device will access the fastest available network to you. If you're on a phone call and move into range of a Wi-Fi hotspot your device will move from the 4G network to the Wi-Fi hotspot without dropping your phone connection and you will remain connected to your mobile provider while in the Wi-Fi hotspot. When you leave Wi-Fi range, your device will smoothly move you back to the 4G network and you will not lose your phone connection.

3G does not provide seamless connectivity and roaming across multiple network types because this functionality relies upon the all-IP nature of IMT-Advanced.

What do we have now?

In Australia, thanks to Telstra and now Optus, we currently have 4G networks that utilise a technology called Long Term Evolution (LTE). The key feature of 4G LTE is improved data speeds when compared to 3G networks - up to 40 Mbps for upload and download.

Australian 3G/NextG networks currently provide download speeds up to 21Mbps and upload speeds of up to 5.8Mbps. That said, typical 3G/NextG download speeds range from 550Kbps to 8Mbps and upload speeds range from 300Kbps to 1Mbps.

Reporting in The Australian on September 11, Chris Griffith provided the results of 4G LTE data download speed tests completed in six locations around Sydney. Griffith used 4G modems on the Telstra and Optus networks to show that the former is slightly faster across the board. Both networks managed download speeds in excess of 30Mbps in several locations.

Telephone calls over 4G LTE are still done using a separate voice channel similar to 3G.

What's next?

On August 8 this year a South Korean telecommunication provider SK Telecom launched what is thought to be the world's first Voice over LTE (VoLTE) service that moves closer to a full VoIP solution rather than using a separate telephone channel.

By processing phone calls over an LTE network (as opposed to a 3G or even 2G network), VoLTE allows considerably faster call connections and considerably better audio quality. This technology will be available in future Samsung LTE smart phones.

In the US, Verizon Wireless, which launched an LTE network in December 2010, has commenced work with AT&T and several equipment vendors to develop a VoLTE standard. Enhanced LTE networks that include VoLTE are not likely to be available in the US until late 2013 or 2014.

In Europe the first LTE networks are just being turned on, with the UK's first 4G network expected to be operating later this year.

Australian carriers are likely to follow their US counterparts and move to VoLTE in 2014 at the earliest.

The final two key requirements for a network that meets IMT-Advanced will be increasing data rates to 100Mbps and seamless roaming mobility between networks including 4G, Wi-Fi and other possible future networks. It is not likely we will see solutions to all of the IMT-Advanced requirements before 2016 or 2017.

In Australia the technology that is likely to be deployed to meet the IMT-Advanced standard will be known as LTE-Advanced.

International roaming and 4G

Last year the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) took Apple to court because the latter was selling a new product (the new iPad) in Australia with the term "4G" in the product marketing.

In fact, due to different implementations of 4G around the world the iPad operates with 4G LTE in the US and existing 3G networks in Australia. As a result of the litigation Apple changed the name of the product in Australia and removed all references to 4G.

The lesson to be learned is that "4G" can mean different things in different parts of the world. Your Australian 4G device may not work when you go overseas so, if you are travelling, be sure to contact your carrier before you go to see if your device will work at your destination.

4G spectrum

4G networks are new and are still being rolled out around Australia. As well as having to pay for the infrastructure, carriers also have to purchase sections of the radio spectrum from the government for 4G.

Telstra and Optus use the 1,800MHz band for their 4G networks, however Optus does not have enough 1,800 MHz spectrum available in regional areas.

Carriers are also keen to purchase spectrum at 700MHz - a portion of the spectrum currently used by analog TV. The 700MHz spectrum will be auctioned off by the Australian Communications and Media Authority in 2013 under the government's digital dividend program.

That said, Optus is concerned the 700MHz spectrum won't be available for use until early 2015, giving Telstra a three-year head-start on building a 4G network.

Optus is currently offering 4G modems in several cities on a limited number of plans but is unlikely to be able to launch a proper national roll-out until it can get access to more spectrum suitable for use in regional areas.

In 2011 Optus completed trials of 4G LTE using the 700MHz band in Bendigo and achieved download speeds of 70Mbps.

4G costs

Telstra's current mobile plans reflect the increase in mobile customer data usage year on year. Mobile data usage is expected to increase still further with the faster 4G network.

Given the telcos will be keen to recoup the cost of purchasing more spectrum, we can expect 4G to be more expensive than 3G.

That said, Australian carriers typically offer plans and devices that are backwards-compatible so if a 4G network is not available the device will utilise the 3G network. This allows carriers to offer plans that are network independent and include costs to cover the 4G network rollout.

While 4G networks have been in operation for several years elsewhere in the world, they're still in their infancy in Australia. One thing's for sure: you'll be hearing plenty more about 4G in the years to come.
Further reading:

See more Explainer articles on The Conversation.

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If you're looking to buy a new smartphone or computer you've probably seen advertisements and offers for 4G-compatible devices. You might even own a 4G-compatible device already. But just what is 4G? How does it compare to existing 3G networks? And what is the current availability of 4G networks in Australia?

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Different Types of Network Connections (By: Sandev)

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Different Types of Network Connections (By: Sandev)

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1. ADSL, NBN, Dial Up                      2. Mobile Internet (4G & 3G)

3. Bluetooth

4. VPN (Virtual Private Network)

5. Local Area Network (LAN)

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
The term broadband can mean multiple things, but many consumers associate it with the concept of high-speed Internet service installed at a specific location. Private networks in homes, schools, businesses and other organizations usually link to the Internet via fixed broadband.

History and common usages: Various universities, government, and private institutions created key pieces of the Internet during the 1970s and 1980s. Household connections to the Internet gained rapid popularity during the 1990s with the emergence of the World Wide Web (WWW). Fixed broadband Internet services became firmly entrenched as a standard for residential homes in developed countries during the 2000s, with ever increasing speeds. Meanwhile, national Wi-Fi hotspot providers began supporting a geographically dispersed network of fixed broadband sign on locations for their subscribers to use. More - Who Created the Internet?

Key technologies: Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN) technology supports simultaneous voice and data access over phone lines without requiring the use of a modem. It was the earliest example of high-speed (relative to available alternatives) Internet access service the consumer market. ISDN failed to gain widespread popularity due to competition from superior Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) and cable Internet services. Besides these options that involve cabling, fixed wireless broadband (not to be confused with mobile broadband) services based on microwave radio transmitters. The tower-to-tower communication on cellular networks also qualifies as a kind of fixed wireless broadband system.

Issues: Fixed broadband installations are attached to one physical location and not portable. Due to the cost of infrastructure, availability of these Internet services is sometimes limited to cities and suburbs (although fixed wireless systems work reasonably well in rural areas). Competition from mobile Internet services puts increasing pressure on fixed broadband providers to keep improving their networks and lowering costs.

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Compare and contrast the six fundamental types of network connections

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The term broadband can mean multiple things, but many consumers associate it with the concept of high-speed Internet service installed at a specific location. Private networks in homes, schools, businesses and other organizations usually link to the Internet via fixed broadband.

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4G is a "fourth-generation mobile wireless cellular network" made as an upgrade from 3G.
4G is short for fourth generation.

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If you're looking to buy a new smartphone or computer you've probably seen advertisements and offers for 4G-compatible devices. You might even own a 4G-compatible device already.

But just what is 4G? How does it compare to existing 3G networks? And what is the current availability of 4G networks in Australia?

4G: the basics

Simply, "4G" is a marketing term that describes a fourth-generation mobile wireless cellular network. Telstra first offered 4G services in mid-2011 and now offers a range of 4G-compatible handsets, tablets and modems.

In August 2012 Optus began switching on 4G services in some cities - Sydney, Perth and Newcastle, with more to come - and in doing so became Australia's second 4G supplier.

Is 4G much better than 3G/NextG?

Mobile cellular networks evolve and a good example has been the way the initial 3G offering evolved with the introduction of high-speed data services.

In Australia, Telstra launched a 3G network called the NextG network in October 2006 with data download speeds between 550Kbps and 1.5Mbps. Over the next couple of years Telstra successively upgraded their network to provide improved data download and upload speeds.

In December 2008 Telstra boosted the speed of the NextG network to 21Mbps, utilising the Evolved High-Speed Packet Access (HSPA+) and Dual-Carrier HSPA standards.

4G networks will evolve in a similar way.

Evolving 4G

In 2007 the International Telecommunication Union's Radiocommunication Sector (ITU-R) defined a new global standard called International Mobile Telecommunications-Advanced (IMT-Advanced). The standard contains a list of features required before a network can be marketed as being "4G". Such features include (to quote the ITU):

compatibility of services within IMT and with fixed networks

capability of interworking with other radio access systems

high quality mobile services

worldwide roaming capability

enhanced peak data rates to support advanced services and applications.

What this means is that IMT-Advanced will be an internet protocol (IP) packet-switched network that incorporates Voice-over-IP (VoIP) rather than the separate telephone call channels used in 3G networks.

Another IMT-Advanced feature will be seamless connectivity and roaming across multiple network types including Wi-Fi with smooth handover.

Simply, a smooth handover means your device will access the fastest available network to you. If you're on a phone call and move into range of a Wi-Fi hotspot your device will move from the 4G network to the Wi-Fi hotspot without dropping your phone connection and you will remain connected to your mobile provider while in the Wi-Fi hotspot. When you leave Wi-Fi range, your device will smoothly move you back to the 4G network and you will not lose your phone connection.

3G does not provide seamless connectivity and roaming across multiple network types because this functionality relies upon the all-IP nature of IMT-Advanced.

What do we have now?

In Australia, thanks to Telstra and now Optus, we currently have 4G networks that utilise a technology called Long Term Evolution (LTE). The key feature of 4G LTE is improved data speeds when compared to 3G networks - up to 40 Mbps for upload and download.

Australian 3G/NextG networks currently provide download speeds up to 21Mbps and upload speeds of up to 5.8Mbps. That said, typical 3G/NextG download speeds range from 550Kbps to 8Mbps and upload speeds range from 300Kbps to 1Mbps.

Reporting in The Australian on September 11, Chris Griffith provided the results of 4G LTE data download speed tests completed in six locations around Sydney. Griffith used 4G modems on the Telstra and Optus networks to show that the former is slightly faster across the board. Both networks managed download speeds in excess of 30Mbps in several locations.

Telephone calls over 4G LTE are still done using a separate voice channel similar to 3G.

What's next?

On August 8 this year a South Korean telecommunication provider SK Telecom launched what is thought to be the world's first Voice over LTE (VoLTE) service that moves closer to a full VoIP solution rather than using a separate telephone channel.

By processing phone calls over an LTE network (as opposed to a 3G or even 2G network), VoLTE allows considerably faster call connections and considerably better audio quality. This technology will be available in future Samsung LTE smart phones.

In the US, Verizon Wireless, which launched an LTE network in December 2010, has commenced work with AT&T and several equipment vendors to develop a VoLTE standard. Enhanced LTE networks that include VoLTE are not likely to be available in the US until late 2013 or 2014.

In Europe the first LTE networks are just being turned on, with the UK's first 4G network expected to be operating later this year.

Australian carriers are likely to follow their US counterparts and move to VoLTE in 2014 at the earliest.

The final two key requirements for a network that meets IMT-Advanced will be increasing data rates to 100Mbps and seamless roaming mobility between networks including 4G, Wi-Fi and other possible future networks. It is not likely we will see solutions to all of the IMT-Advanced requirements before 2016 or 2017.

In Australia the technology that is likely to be deployed to meet the IMT-Advanced standard will be known as LTE-Advanced.

International roaming and 4G

Last year the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) took Apple to court because the latter was selling a new product (the new iPad) in Australia with the term "4G" in the product marketing.

In fact, due to different implementations of 4G around the world the iPad operates with 4G LTE in the US and existing 3G networks in Australia. As a result of the litigation Apple changed the name of the product in Australia and removed all references to 4G.

The lesson to be learned is that "4G" can mean different things in different parts of the world. Your Australian 4G device may not work when you go overseas so, if you are travelling, be sure to contact your carrier before you go to see if your device will work at your destination.

4G spectrum

4G networks are new and are still being rolled out around Australia. As well as having to pay for the infrastructure, carriers also have to purchase sections of the radio spectrum from the government for 4G.

Telstra and Optus use the 1,800MHz band for their 4G networks, however Optus does not have enough 1,800 MHz spectrum available in regional areas.

Carriers are also keen to purchase spectrum at 700MHz - a portion of the spectrum currently used by analog TV. The 700MHz spectrum will be auctioned off by the Australian Communications and Media Authority in 2013 under the government's digital dividend program.

That said, Optus is concerned the 700MHz spectrum won't be available for use until early 2015, giving Telstra a three-year head-start on building a 4G network.

Optus is currently offering 4G modems in several cities on a limited number of plans but is unlikely to be able to launch a proper national roll-out until it can get access to more spectrum suitable for use in regional areas.

In 2011 Optus completed trials of 4G LTE using the 700MHz band in Bendigo and achieved download speeds of 70Mbps.

4G costs

Telstra's current mobile plans reflect the increase in mobile customer data usage year on year. Mobile data usage is expected to increase still further with the faster 4G network.

Given the telcos will be keen to recoup the cost of purchasing more spectrum, we can expect 4G to be more expensive than 3G.

That said, Australian carriers typically offer plans and devices that are backwards-compatible so if a 4G network is not available the device will utilise the 3G network. This allows carriers to offer plans that are network independent and include costs to cover the 4G network rollout.

While 4G networks have been in operation for several years elsewhere in the world, they're still in their infancy in Australia. One thing's for sure: you'll be hearing plenty more about 4G in the years to come.
Further reading:

See more Explainer articles on The Conversation.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
If you're looking to buy a new smartphone or computer you've probably seen advertisements and offers for 4G-compatible devices. You might even own a 4G-compatible device already. But just what is 4G? How does it compare to existing 3G networks? And what is the current availability of 4G networks in Australia?