Wi-Fi is a fantastic technology that lets users enjoy the freedom of the web from anywhere in the building. Opening a laptop or tapping a phone presents the user with a plethora of information in seconds.
Most users do not think about the technology’s engineering feats, but Wi-Fi is a combination of signal propagation, electrical engineering, and the manipulation of information. The goal of this article is to focus on engineering that is invisible through user-friendly access to the web.
What Wi-Fi Really Is and What It Connects
Wi-Fi is a way of getting devices connected to a network, but it is not the only network technology. Experiencing the benefits of Wi-Fi entails understanding the pivot of the network devices, the router. The integration of a smartphone, laptop, tablet, and appliances smartly connected to the router is known as a Wi-Fi system. The router also streams information from the ISP and dispenses it in the air as signals.
Envision Wi-Fi as a digital version of a person saying a message publicly, with other people in the vicinity listening to the message. In this analogy, the router acts as the person, and the listening devices are the audience members. The router sends a message that has been encoded in a way that is understandable by the audience members. The message is transmitted wirelessly using radio waves, the same waves that are employed in radio stations and Bluetooth technology. What separates Wi-Fi waves from other radio waves is that Wi-Fi waves transmit large quantities of highly detailed information.
Wireless Fidelity is what Wi-Fi stands for. The name does not carry much scientific weight, but it has taken on a universally accepted meaning in the context of describing the technology that allows devices to access the internet without needing to be physically connected.
How Radio Waves Carry Your Data
Radio waves are a type of electromagnetic radiation. They are a very slight variant of light waves in terms of composition, but they have longer wavelengths and are of a lower frequency than light waves. In the same way that light waves cannot be seen, radio waves are also invisible, but they can travel freely through the air. For radio waves to carry digital data, the data must be encoded into a signal that can be synced with the radio waves. This is called modulation.
Picture a visual communication device that signals information through blinking lights in different sequences. Just like that, with information being transferred through radio waves, their characteristics are altered, including their frequency and amplitude. Wi-Fi technology uses specific frequency ranges, with common examples being 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz; different ranges have varying power levels. The 2.4 GHz range has a lower speed but can transmit data a longer distance. Meanwhile, the 5 GHz range, although faster, has a shorter distance range and poorer ability to go through obstacles like walls.
Your device is programmed to tune in to these signals and translate them into usable information. This is why your device is able to access and read websites, stream content, send and receive messages, and open applications. All of this is accomplished with very little waiting time on your part.
The Role of the Router and Why It Matters
The router is the most important component of the Wi-Fi system. It has a number of very important tasks to accomplish. To begin with, it links to your modem, which acquires the internet signal from your internet service provider. The router then sets up a local network and emits radio waves that your other devices are able to connect to.
A single router serves multiple purposes within a home; one of the primary functions is acting as a traffic controller. If your home has multiple devices connected to the internet, routers help keep the flow of information organized. It manages the flow of information from the internet to connected devices and collects information from those devices to transmit to the internet.
Modern routers can handle the flow of information from the internet using a number of different technologies. One of those is using multiple antennas, which allows the router to send and receive data more efficiently. Other devices connected to the router do not have to wait to communicate with the router because of a technology referred to as multiple input multiple output, or MIMO.
Security, including the encryption of data to prevent outsiders from accessing it, is also one of the functions Wi-Fi routers perform. Without encryption, a network can be easily accessed by unauthorized users; this is why encryption is standard practice in Wi-Fi networks.
How Your Device Connects and Communicates
When you choose a network on your device, a number of different steps happen at the same time. The first of these steps is to check your device for the area for networks. Routers send a unique name, an SSID, within their signals to help devices identify which network they belong to.
After choosing a network, a device sends a connection request to the corresponding router, and when the network being accessed is password-protected, a device must present the correct access password to the network router, which then checks the password and, if correct, allows the device to join the network. Once the connection is granted, the device is assigned an IP address, a unique numerical identifier that allows the network to determine the device’s location and to route information to the correct device.
Devices and the corresponding router in each network communicate using small packets of information. Each packet contains a small and partial portion of the data necessary to complete a video, image, or webpage. Every second, thousands of packets of data are exchanged. Although some of the packets may get lost in the process, to verify that the transfer is complete, each device checks that all packets are received, and if they are not, the router is programmed to resend missing packets in a continuous loop until successful packet transfer verification is achieved.
Why Wi-Fi Speeds Vary from Place to Place
Several different, but many potential, Wi-Fi performance-limiting factors exist. Distance is probably the most important. Signal strength decreases as the distance from the router is increased. The materials that the walls, floors, and furniture are made of can also diminish the strength of the Wi-Fi. Concrete and metal, for example, cause more interference to radio wave signals than wood or plastic.
Other appliances may produce electromagnetic interference as well. Microwaves, cordless phones, and baby monitors may operate within the same frequency bands as Wi-Fi. When multiple devices are switched on, they generate RF noise that can interfere with devices and worsen the service Wi-Fi offers.
So, the internet speed that your internet service provider is giving you also matters. No matter how good the Wi-Fi signal is, you will be capped at the maximum speed your internet plan offers. When a lot of people are on the internet at the same time as you, it can become congested, and this is especially true for large neighborhoods or apartment complexes.
Modern routers can alleviate some of these problems by adhering to more recent standards with greater technological capabilities. Dual-band and tri-band routers can allocate devices to separate frequency bands. Mesh systems use multiple access points to ensure large homes have uniform coverage.
How Wi-Fi Handles Security and Protects Your Data
Security is an important aspect of Wi-Fi. To collect data that transmits over the air, Wi-Fi networks apply different types of encryption. Encryption makes data indecipherable to anyone without the password and can only be unlocked by the target devices. In modern day, a majority of networks use the latest protocols, WPA3 encryption, an improvement over its older counterparts. WPA3 encryption makes it more difficult for hackers to waltz their way through by guessing passwords or intercepting data.
Firewalls that block unwanted or suspicious traffic and Wi-Fi routers incorporate this. Other devices can use double or additional layers of security to encrypt sensitive data with virtual private networks. Solid security protocols in place with good practice for users constitute strong password selection, without the use of easy personal passwords, changing router passwords, constant router firmware updates, and using non-public secure networks, or in private networks, when using personal information online.
When it comes to public Wi-Fi, or hotspots, it can be assumed that the provided security is weak or nonexistent. When accessing an open network, users subject their data to potential exposure unless the sites used encrypt. There are common cautions that can be taken to mitigate risk when using public open Wi Fi, and it is suggested to be wary of online bank transactions during open networks to minimize risk.
