The Hustler's Digest StaffIn the fast-paced world that hugely relies on digital information, the need for wireless connectivity is crucial. Not only does Wi-Fi (wireless fidelity) ensure easy access to data, but it is also an important pillar for all organisations to maximise on their potential and efficiency. The article below aims to give a brief overview of Wi-Fi life to date and how its use has developed over the years.
Wi-Fi was born in The Netherlands in the 90s
Just like a radio works by connecting to a signal, Wi-Fi is the technology that helps us communicate through a wireless signal. Victor Hayes, known as the ‘father of Wi-Fi’ was chairman of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) committee in 1997, when said committee established the 802.11 standard Local Area Network (LAN) that made the technology viable. The 802.11 standards have gone through several improvements since then, making connections better with each new version and giving us, to date, 7 Wi-Fi generations.
Wi-Fi Demand Grows Rapidly In 2007
Although, as indicated above, the technology had been around since 1997, it is in 2007 that it met with huge popularity with one of the major impacts on the usage of Wi-Fi coming from the launch of the first Apple iPhone in June of the same year. Following the unveiling of Apple’s new product, Google dropped the news of releasing its free, open-source operating system, Android, which came on the market in September of 2008. This, however, was only the beginning, 2007 saw more and more devices linked to the technology hitting markets around the world. In a relatively short time, phones with Wi-Fi capability became the norm and as a result the demand for Wi-Fi technology sky-rocketed leading to more devices using the technology in subsequent years.
The Internet of Things
The Internet of Things (IoT) is a network of objects that incorporate the capability to connect and exchange data remotely, these are also known as IoT devices. The range of such devices is extremely wide, and they can go from a light that can be switched on from a smartphone to a driverless car. Such devices can communicate without the help of humans and depend on sensors to work. Although the idea of IoT first came to exist in the early 1980s, the actual term internet of things was coined in 1999, and it was only in 2008, that the concept really took off and by 2013 it became a part of life and present in multiple technologies across a multitude of spheres. The decrease in the price of computer chips and the rise and spread of wireless networks made this shift possible and for machine-to-machine connections, Wi-Fi services supporting IoTs from a common platform became commonplace.
The Future is Wireless
As Wi-Fi becomes cheaper and easier to access, as 802.11 wireless LAN technologies continue to develop and as Wi-Fi connection speed is on track to double, more and more devices, such as Apple iPhones and Samsung Galaxy Phones, to name a couple, are equipping themselves with the latest versions of the 802.11 standards. In addition, even more users and devices can now connect to a single network without experiencing delays as a result. It is inevitable, from the way things are progressing that as the number of smart devices increases, be it refrigerators allowing us to digitally note our grocery needs, mere door locks allowing us to remotely give access to our homes, tablets allowing us to play several legacy of dead casino like games at any time of day or night, phones giving us access to our favourite movies or podcasts, and more, daily living shall undoubtedly be transformed into the realm of the wireless and in the same way become dependent on it. The next 3 years are projected to see circa 7 billion new Wi-Fi devices which will result in 24 billion devices being connected to the internet.
Conclusion
As this technology is advancing and developing day by day, more and more aspects of our daily lives are starting to depend on it. With time, Wi-Fi speed and the load it can take will only increase and by default so will its use.
