WIRELESS internet connections – which are generally known as WiFi – have become a fixture of our life in the 21st Century.
Homes have it, offices have it, cafes have it and even airliners have a WiFi network so you can get your social media fix or perhaps some last-minute work done as you fly to your next holiday.
With that said, it’s been claimed over the years that the term WiFi actually means “wireless fidelity”.
Is this true?
Verdict:
FALSE.
No, “WiFi” is not short for “Wireless Fidelity” at all, as explained by Encyclopedia Britannica.
In its article explaining what it is, Encyclopedia Britannica says that “Wi-Fi” was a term created by a marketing firm hired by the Wireless Ethernet Compatibility Alliance (Weca) in 1999 to promote wireless internet connections.
“WiFi is not an abbreviation for ‘wireless fidelity’ as the name was created by a marketing firm hired by Weca and chosen for its pleasing sound and similarity to “hi-fi” or high-fidelity,” it said.
As for how it started, Encyclopedia Britannica explains that it began with a 1985 ruling by the U.S. Federal Communications Commission that released the bands of the radio spectrum at 900 megahertz (MHz), 2.4 gigahertz (GHz), and 5.8 GHz for unlicensed use by anyone.
“Technology firms began building wireless networks and devices to take advantage of the newly available radio spectrum, but without a common standard the movement remained fragmented, as devices from different manufacturers were rarely compatible,” it adds.
It went on to say that a committee of industry leaders came up with a common standard, called 802.11, which was approved by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) in 1997, with a group of major companies founding Weca in 1999.
And as it stands today, “WiFi” is a trademarked term and the rights for it are still held by Weca – which is now called the WiFi Alliance.
References:
1. https://www.britannica.com/
2. https://watech.wa.gov/wifi-
