The magic word is Wi-fi, my friend. Now if you do not know what that is, then you have some serious catching up to do. The world has moved ahead, yet again, and as it does, all the time. Well, if you really do not know what Wi-fi is, then here is a bit of dirt on that.
Wi-fi is a trademark of the Wi-Fi Alliance. This applies for those products which have been manufactured on the basis of the IEEE 802.11 standards. This is a certification of a kind and guarantees a communication link between wireless gadgets. In many countries, the term is used to mean IEEE 802.11-wireless LAN (WLAN). The technology of Wi-Fi is used by personal computers, video gaming consoles, laptops, smartphones, printers and a host of other peripheral devices.
The technology that is used by Wi-Fi is of two types. These are called single carrier direct-sequence spread spectrum radio technology and multi-carrier OFDM (Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing) radio technology. Because of the unlicensed spread spectrum, Wi-Fi has outgrown its competitors like HomeRF and Bluetooth.
If a device has Wi-Fi facilities then it can receive Internet connectivity if it is within the range of a Wi-Fi network. This device can be a personal computer, a laptop, a gaming console, a smartphone and many others as well. The areas of Wi-Fi connectivity are called “hotspots”. The range of such a network can be a small room to may square miles in terms of distance. This technology has not only been used in homes and offices, but also in many public spaces like hotels, cafes, campuses of educational institutions and even airports, for that matter. Wi-Fi facilitates P2P connectivity or what is called the wireless ad hoc network. Through this many Wi-Fi enabled devices are able to connect with each other directly. The potential usage of this technology is immense. So many devices can connect to each other seamlessly and that too, without any hiccups whatsoever.