For those of us who are new to the whole geek thing, today we’ll be covering wifi.
So, what is Wifi? And in English, doc!
Simply put, wifi is a type of wireless technology used in electric devices. Wifi allows various devices to communicate with one another. So two users on wifi cell phones can speak to one another, or an electric device can send signals to another electric device.
For example, the Xbox 360 uses a wireless controller. In the past, wireless controllers worked kind of like remote controls, you had to point the controller directly at the receiver for it to work. The way current wireless technology works, you could play a video game while hiding a wireless controller under a stack of pillows and still get precise feedback from the game.
Today, wifi is used by the overwhelming majority of electric devices, from cell phones to computer mice to printers. It’s just an incredibly fast, convenient way to transmit communication or signals from one device to another.
Wifi connected internet works in such a way that any wifi enabled laptop can pick up internet near any open wifi connection, or “hotspot”. So you can take your laptop down to the coffee shop, and if they=2 0have wifi internet, you have wifi internet.
Wifi relies on being near a connection, of course. A wifi enabled laptop won’t work just anywhere, but it will work wherever a connection is available. So, say you’re on a car trip, driving through the city, your connection will be very “off and on” as you drive in and out of hotspots.
In the not-so-distant future, we may actually see wifi connectivity covering an incredibly wide area, and becoming less stop and go, as the technology is certainly gaining in popularity and casting a wider and wider net every day.
Basically, all you really need to know about wifi is this: It connects electrical devices without a wire. It’s fast, it can transfer a lot of information in a short amount of time, and it’s catching on. It can provide internet, or it can just communicate simple signals from one device to another.
Really, it’s been a godsend to rural communities where wired internet isn’t easily available. In the past, people living in a cabin in the woods would have to spend thousands of dollars on a satellite, and thousands more every year to provide their satellite with internet services. With wireless internet, people living out in the sticks pay no more than people living in the city.
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