Wi-Fi

• 1. The 1985 FCC Ruling

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  In 1985, the U.S. Federal Communications Commission released parts of the ISM bands for unlicensed use in the United States. These frequency bands include the same 2.4 GHz bands used by equipment such as microwave ovens and are thus subject to interference. This regulatory decision created a vacuum that inventors would soon fill with wireless technology. The ruling allowed anyone to transmit data on these frequencies without obtaining a specific license, provided they adhered to power limits. Before this moment, radio spectrum was tightly controlled and expensive to access. The move opened the door for cheap, experimental communication systems to emerge from garages and research labs. It set the stage for competing nations to race toward a common standard.

• 2. Global Inventive Contributions

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  In 1991, the NCR Corporation and AT&T invented the precursor to 802.11 under the name WaveLAN in the city of Nieuwegein in the Netherlands. Vic Hayes held the chair of IEEE 802.11 for ten years and Bruce Tuch worked at Bell Labs to design initial specifications. Meanwhile, Australian scientists began working on wireless LAN technology in 1989. A prototype test bed for a wireless local area network developed in 1992 came from the Radiophysics Division of the CSIRO led by John O'Sullivan. Australia lodged a patent for Wi-Fi in 1992. These three regions simultaneously claimed the invention of Wi-Fi, yet no global consensus has been reached. In 2009, the Australian CSIRO received $200 million after a patent settlement with 14 technology companies. They secured another $220 million in 2012 following legal proceedings with 23 companies. This financial windfall validated their technical contribution decades later.

• 3. The Alliance And Certification

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  In 1999, the Wi-Fi Alliance formed as a trade association to hold the Wi-Fi trademark. The organization restricts use of the term Wi-Fi Certified to products that successfully complete interoperability certification testing. Non-compliant hardware is simply referred to as WLAN and may or may not work with certified devices. Over 3.05 billion Wi-Fi-enabled devices are shipped globally each year. The alliance consists of more than 800 companies from around the world. Manufacturers with membership gain the right to mark products with the Wi-Fi logo. The certification process requires conformance to IEEE 802.11 radio standards and WPA security standards. Not every device submitted for certification implies incompatibility with other Wi-Fi devices. The lack of certification does not necessarily mean failure to function correctly.

• 4. Generational Evolution Of Standards

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  The first version of the 802.11 protocol released in 1997 provided up to 2 megabit per second link speeds. It updated in 1999 with 802.11b to permit 11 megabit per second link speeds. In 2018, the Wi-Fi Alliance introduced simplified generational numbering to indicate equipment supporting Wi-Fi 4 through Wi-Fi 6. Some versions running on suitable hardware at close range achieve speeds of 1 gigabit per second. The most important standards affecting Wi-Fi include 802.11a, 802.11b, 802.11g, 802.11n, 802.11ac, and 802.11ax. These generations have a high degree of backward compatibility with previous versions. The alliance states that level 4, 5, or 6 can be indicated in the user interface when connected along with signal strength. Newer generations utilize the 6 gigahertz SHF band for higher throughput.

• 5. Citywide Network Expansion

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  In the early 2000s, multiple cities around the world announced plans to construct citywide Wi-Fi networks. In 2004, Mysore became India's first Wi-Fi-enabled city. A company called WiFiyNet set up hotspots covering the whole city and nearby villages. St. Cloud, Florida and Sunnyvale, California became the first U.S. cities to offer free Wi-Fi from MetroFi in 2005. Minneapolis generated $1.2 million in profit annually for its provider. London mayor Boris Johnson pledged to have London-wide Wi-Fi by 2012 in May 2010. New York City announced a campaign to convert old phone booths into digital kiosks in 2014 titled LinkNYC. Installation began in late 2015 with plans for over seven thousand kiosks. Seoul planned to grant leases to KT, LG Telecom, and SK Telecom to invest $44 million in a project completed in 2015.

• 6. Security Flaws And Fixes

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  Wired Equivalent Privacy encryption was designed to protect against casual snooping but is no longer considered secure. Tools such as AirSnort or Aircrack-ng can quickly recover WEP encryption keys. The Wi-Fi Alliance approved Wi-Fi Protected Access which uses TKIP to replace WEP. WPA2 using Advanced Encryption Standard introduced in 2004 is supported by most new devices. In 2017, a flaw known as KRACK allowed a key replay attack on the WPA2 protocol. A flaw in Wi-Fi Protected Setup added in 2007 let security be bypassed entirely. In 2018, WPA3 was announced as a replacement for WPA2 rolling out on June 26. Most business networks attempt to disallow external access but enabling wireless connectivity reduces security if inadequate encryption exists. An attacker who gains access can initiate DNS spoofing attacks against any other user of the network.