How Does Wi-Fi Work?

To mankind, Wi-Fi represents many things: Freedom of speech, access to information and the ability to keep in touch with both family members and strangers, near and far. But what does Wi-Fi stands for? Some will claim it's shorthand for Wireless Fidelity, sort of like how people of New York call the region south of Houston Street "SoHo" and San Francisco calls South of Market "SoMa."

But, that's not true.

In 1999, the Wireless Ethernet Compatibility Alliance (not to be confused with the Rebel Alliance in Star Wars) wanted to set a standard for wireless connections. It was called IEEE 802.11, which didn't exactly roll off the tongue. So, to be sure it would catch on, they needed to…
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