Editing IEEE 802.11 (section)

==History==
802.11 technology has its origins in a 1985 ruling by the U.S. Federal Communications Commission that released the [[ISM band]]<ref name="IEEE-SA Standards Board Operations Manual" /> for unlicensed use.<ref>{{cite book|author1=Wolter Lemstra|author2=Vic Hayes|author-link2=Vic Hayes|author3=John Groenewegen|title=The Innovation Journey of Wi-Fi: The Road To Global Success|publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]]|date=2010|isbn=978-0-521-19971-1}}</ref>

In 1991 [[NCR Corporation]]/[[AT&T Corporation|AT&T]] (now [[Nokia Labs]] and [[LSI Corporation]]) invented a precursor to 802.11 in Nieuwegein, the Netherlands. The inventors initially intended to use the technology for cashier systems. The first wireless products were brought to the market under the name [[WaveLAN]] with raw data rates of 1&nbsp;Mbit/s and 2&nbsp;Mbit/s.

[[Vic Hayes]], who held the chair of IEEE 802.11 for 10 years, and has been called the "father of Wi-Fi", was involved in designing the initial 802.11b and 802.11a standards within the [[IEEE]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://news.cnet.com/1200-1070-975460.html |title=Vic Hayes - Wireless Vision |author=Ben Charny |date=6 December 2002 |website=[[CNET]] |access-date=2011-04-30 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120826164642/http://news.cnet.com/1200-1070-975460.html |archive-date=2012-08-26 }}</ref> He, along with [[Bell Labs]] Engineer Bruce Tuch, approached IEEE to create a standard.<ref>{{cite news|title=Vic Hayes & Bruce Tuch inducted into the Wi-Fi NOW Hall of Fame|url=https://wifinowglobal.com/news-and-blog/vic-hayes-bruce-tuch-inducted-into-the-wi-fi-now-hall-of-fame/|newspaper=Wi-Fi Now Global|date=8 November 2019|access-date=27 November 2020|last1=Hetting |first1=Claus }}</ref>

In 1999, the [[Wi-Fi Alliance]] was formed as a trade association to hold the [[Wi-Fi]] trademark under which most products are sold.<ref>{{cite web |title= History |website= [[Wi-Fi Alliance]] |url= https://www.wi-fi.org/who-we-are/history |access-date= 24 August 2020}}</ref>

The major commercial breakthrough came with [[Apple Inc.|Apple's]] adoption of Wi-Fi for their iBook series of laptops in 1999. It was the first mass consumer product to offer Wi-Fi network connectivity, which was then branded by Apple as AirPort.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1999/07/22/business/apple-offers-imac-s-laptop-offspring-the-ibook.html|title=Apple Offers iMac's Laptop Offspring, the iBook|author=Steve Lohr|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|date=22 July 1999}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1999/11/25/technology/state-of-the-art-not-born-to-be-wired.html?pagewanted=all|title=STATE OF THE ART; Not Born To Be Wired|author=Peter H. Lewis|newspaper=The New York Times|date=25 November 1999}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://wifinowevents.com/news-and-blog/how-a-meeting-with-steve-jobs-in-1998-gave-birth-to-wi-fi/|title=How a meeting with Steve Jobs in 1998 gave birth to Wi-Fi|author=Claus Hetting|date=19 August 2018|website=Wi-Fi Now|access-date=21 August 2018|archive-date=21 August 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180821061611/https://wifinowevents.com/news-and-blog/how-a-meeting-with-steve-jobs-in-1998-gave-birth-to-wi-fi/|url-status=dead}}</ref> One year later IBM followed with its ThinkPad 1300 series in 2000.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://thinkstories.com/innovate-die-thinkpad-cracked-code-wireless-world/?linkId=49947536|title=Innovate or die: How ThinkPad cracked the code to the wireless world|access-date=2018-08-24|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180825004409/https://thinkstories.com/innovate-die-thinkpad-cracked-code-wireless-world/?linkId=49947536|archive-date=2018-08-25|url-status=dead}}</ref>