Editing Wi-Fi (section)

== Etymology and terminology ==
The name ''Wi-Fi'', commercially used at least as early as August 1999,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://tsdr.uspto.gov/documentviewer?caseId=sn75799629&docId=IPC20070420145537#docIndex=19&page=3|title=Statement of Use, s/n 75799629, US Patent and Trademark Office Trademark Status and Document Retrieval|date=23 August 2005|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150428011752/http://tsdr.uspto.gov/documentviewer?caseId=sn75799629&docId=IPC20070420145537#docIndex=19&page=3|archive-date=28 April 2015|url-status=live|access-date=21 September 2014|quote=first used the Certification Mark … as early as August 1999}}</ref> was coined by the brand-consulting firm Interbrand. The Wi-Fi Alliance had hired Interbrand to create a name that was "a little catchier than 'IEEE 802.11b Direct Sequence'."<ref name="boing" /><ref name="wifi_debunked" /> According to Phil Belanger, a founding member of the Wi-Fi Alliance, the term ''Wi-Fi'' was chosen from a list of ten names that Interbrand proposed.<ref name="boing" /> Interbrand also created the Wi-Fi [[logo]]. The [[yin-yang]] Wi-Fi logo indicates the certification of a product for [[interoperability]].<ref name="wifi_securing_2003" /> The name is often written as ''WiFi'', ''Wifi'', or ''wifi'', but these are not approved by the Wi-Fi Alliance.

The name ''Wi-Fi'' is ''not'' short-form for 'Wireless Fidelity',<ref>{{Cite news |last=Corrigan |first=Hope |date=2022-12-30 |title=I just found out what Wi-Fi means and it's sending me |url=https://www.pcgamer.com/i-just-found-out-what-wi-fi-means-and-its-sending-me/ |access-date=2025-05-02 |work=PC Gamer |language=en}}</ref> although the Wi-Fi Alliance did use the [[advertising slogan]] "The Standard for Wireless Fidelity" for a short time after the brand name was created,<ref name="boing" /><ref name="wifi_securing_2003">{{cite web | url=http://www.netsense.info/downloads/Whitepaper_Wi-Fi_Networks2-6-03.pdf | title=Securing Wi-Fi Wireless Networks with Today's Technologies | date=6 February 2003 | publisher=Wi-Fi Alliance | access-date=25 June 2015 | url-status=live | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150626100202/http://www.netsense.info/downloads/Whitepaper_Wi-Fi_Networks2-6-03.pdf | archive-date=26 June 2015 }}</ref><ref name="wifi_deployment_2004">{{cite web|url=http://www.wi-fi.org/files/wp_6_WPA%20Deployment%20for%20Public%20Access_10-28-04.pdf |title=WPA Deployment Guidelines for Public Access Wi-Fi Networks |date=28 October 2004 |publisher=Wi-Fi Alliance |access-date=30 November 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070306081352/http://www.wi-fi.org/files/wp_6_WPA%20Deployment%20for%20Public%20Access_10-28-04.pdf |archive-date=6 March 2007 }}</ref> and the Wi-Fi Alliance was also called the "Wireless Fidelity Alliance Inc." in some publications.<ref>{{cite book |title=HTC S710 User Manual |date=2006 |publisher=High Tech Computer Corp. |page=2 |quote=Wi-Fi is a registered trademark of the Wireless Fidelity Alliance, Inc.}}</ref> [[IEEE]] is a separate, but related, organization and their website has stated "WiFi is a short name for Wireless Fidelity".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.ieee.org/about/technologies/emerging/wifi.pdf|title=Wireless Fidelity{{snd}}WiFi|last=Varma|first=Vijay K.|website=[[Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers]] (IEEE) |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170829232140/http://www.ieee.org/about/technologies/emerging/wifi.pdf|archive-date=29 August 2017|url-status=dead|access-date=16 October 2016}} (originally published 2006)</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Aime|first1=Marco|last2=Calandriello|first2=Giorgio|last3=Lioy|first3=Antonio|year=2007|title=Dependability in Wireless Networks: Can We Rely on WiFi?|url=http://porto.polito.it/1515418/1/WiFi_dependability_abstract.pdf|journal=IEEE Security and Privacy Magazine|volume=5|issue=1|pages=23–29|doi=10.1109/MSP.2007.4|s2cid=16415685  |issn = 1540-7993}}</ref> The name ''Wi-Fi'' was partly chosen because it sounds similar to [[Hi-Fi]], which consumers take to mean ''high fidelity'' or ''high quality''.  Interbrand hoped consumers would find the name catchy, and that they would assume this ''wireless'' protocol has high fidelity because of its name.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2019-04-15 |title=You May Feel Silly When You Find Out What Wi-Fi Actually Stands For |url=https://www.huffpost.com/entry/why-called-wi-fi_l_5cace3f7e4b01bf960065841 |access-date=2024-06-19 |website=HuffPost |language=en}}</ref>

Other technologies intended for fixed points, including [[Motorola Canopy]], are usually called ''[[fixed wireless]]''. Alternative wireless technologies include [[Zigbee]], [[Z-Wave]], [[Bluetooth]] and [[mobile phone standards]].

To connect to a Wi-Fi LAN, a computer must be equipped with a [[wireless network interface controller]]. The combination of a computer and an interface controller is called a ''[[Station (networking)|station]]''. Stations are identified by one or more [[MAC address]]es.

Wi-Fi nodes often operate in infrastructure mode in which all communications go through a base station. ''[[Ad hoc mode]]'' refers to devices communicating directly with each other, without communicating with an access point.

A [[Service set (802.11 network)|service set]] is the set of all the devices associated with a particular Wi-Fi network. Devices in a service set need not be on the same wavebands or channels. A service set can be local, independent, extended, mesh, or a combination. Each service set has an associated identifier, a 32-byte service set identifier (SSID), which identifies the network. The [[SSID]] is configured within the devices that are part of the network. A basic service set (BSS) is a group of stations that share the same wireless channel, SSID, and other settings that have wirelessly connected, usually to the same access point.<ref name="IEEE802.11-2007">{{cite web|url=https://standards.ieee.org/getieee802/802.11.html|title=IEEE 802.11-2007: Wireless LAN Medium Access Control (MAC) and Physical Layer (PHY) specifications|date=8 March 2007|publisher=[[IEEE Standards Association]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070418182559/http://standards.ieee.org/getieee802/802.11.html|archive-date=18 April 2007|url-status=dead}}</ref>{{rp|3.6}} Each BSS is identified by a MAC address called the ''BSSID''.