Networking and Internet Basics - Computing Fundamentals - page 205

Wi-Fi
Wi-Fi is short for wireless fidelity. It's the common name for the wire-
less networking technology that's used for almost all home and business
networks today, often referred to by its standard number: IEEE 802.11.
Whenever you use wireless networking to access the Internet at your
home or workplace or in a public location such as a cafe or library, you
are using Wi-Fi.

Wi-Fi (Wireless Ethernet) A means of con-
necting computers and other devices wirelessly.
Another name for it is IEEE 802.11, its technical
standard.

IEEE is the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. It publishes the standards for many different
technologies. IEEE 802.11 is the standard that governs Wi-Fi, but there are also many other standards. For
example, 1394 is the standard for FireWire, and 802.15 is the standard for Bluetooth (although nobody calls
Bluetooth by its standard number).

NOTE

There have been different versions of the Wi-Fi standard since its
original development. The popular version today is 802.11n, which can
carry up to 600 Mbps of data over a range of up to 230 feet indoors or
840 feet outdoors. An update to it called 802.11ac has recently been
approved; it may already be incorporated into networking devices you
can buy in stores by the time you read this. 802.11ac has a maximum
throughput of 1.3 Gbps, more than doubling the capacity of 802.11n.
Table 8.1 lists the different Wi-Fi standards and their speeds and
distances.

Table.8 1 Wi-Fi Standards
Standard Distance (indoors/outdoors) Speed

802.11a 115 feet / 390 feet 54 Mbps

802.11b 115 feet / 390 feet 11 Mbps

802.11g 125 feet / 460 feet 54 Mbps

802.11n 230 feet / 860 feet Up to 600 Mbps

802.11ac 230 feet / 860 feet Up to 1.3 Gbps

Bluetooth
Bluetooth is a wireless technology used to connect individual devices to
one another in close proximity. It is most commonly used to connect a
computer to an input or output device. For example, you might have a
Bluetooth headphone that you use with your smartphone, or you might
have a Bluetooth-enabled printer that you can use with your notebook
PC. A personal area network (PAN) forms when the devices are within
range of each other and they are paired (by using software to authen-
ticate them to one another). When the devices are no longer in range
of one another, the PAN stops. Bluetooth is limited to about 20 feet in
range, so it isn't a practical technology to use for wireless networking in
general (such as to share an Internet connection with computers all over
a home or office).

Bluetooth An inexpensive short-range network-
ing technology used for computer-to-device
connections such as computer-to-printer or
phone-to-headset

pair To connect a Bluetooth input or output device
to a computer.