Wireless Networking

Wireless networking has transformed how people connect, freeing devices from cables and enabling mobility. Instead of sending signals along a physical wire, wireless networks transmit data as radio waves through the air. This lesson looks at the technology behind Wi-Fi, the hardware involved, the benefits and drawbacks of going wireless, and the factors that determine how well a wireless network performs.

How Wi-Fi works

Wi-Fi is the common name for wireless local area networking based on the IEEE 802.11 family of standards. Devices contain a wireless network interface card that converts digital data into radio signals and back again. These signals are broadcast on specific frequency bands, most commonly around 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz, with newer standards also using 6 GHz. Each band is divided