With fast-paced Information Technological advancements in the present Information Age, every one seeks to be enlightened so as to be relevant and up-to-date on walkie talkies For instance, everyone wants to get the best out of their IT gadgets, and would want to know what features and functionality such gadgets can offer. Sometime ago, I overheard someone saying;
“What’s all these Wireless LAN, WLAN, Wi-Fi, 802.11b/g/n stuff?”
“Why does my brand new laptop PC have this Wi-Fi logo and 802.11b/g written beside it, while my friend’s has 802.11b/g/n instead, and he calls it wireless-N. What difference does that make?”
“In fact I need a faster browsing speed each time I want to browse the internet using any of these wireless cyber cafes.”
These and many more are questions asked by people all around the world. However, the good news is that the answers to these and other related questions are interesting and would make one’s Information Technology experience more enjoyable!
SOLUTION/ANSWER
Wireless LAN, WLAN and Wi-Fi are all pointing to same thing, i.e. accessing the Internet, two way radios, another PC or mobile device such as a PDA via wireless, not with Bluetooth this time, but a similar and enhanced technology called WLAN. Wi-Fi is simply a sort of nickname for it. In fact, it was the name originally given to one of the earliest popular WLAN standards known as the IEEE 802.11b standard. However, it has become a registered trademark of the Wi-Fi Alliance, which certifies WLAN products, assuring their interoperability. So the logo on your laptop PC or Smartphone simply means that your device is Wi-Fi enabled and can communicate with other devices.