Eric Goedtel: Brief History of Wireless Technologies

Brief History of Wireless Technologies

Modern history of wireless internetworking can be traced back to 1999 with the formation of the Wi-Fi Alliance, a nonprofit organization devoted to standardizing the numerous protocols that consist of the WiFi standard. It is this group that sets the standard for the WiFi-compatibility certification you may have seen on some wireless networking products. The Wi-Fi Alliance anaylzes and inspects products that is designed to be and advertised as wireless networking products. The official Wi-Fi Alliance states its objective plainly, asserting that "the goal of the Wi-Fi Alliance's members is to enhance the user experience through product interoperability." This says that the certification ensures that your Belkin wireless router will interact positively with the Netgear wireless network card in your desktop computer, and allow for cross-compatibility with any and all devices. The Wi-Fi Alliance website also states that there are over 200 member corporations including Belkin, D-Link, Linksys, Netgear, and the four major consumer-level producers of home and office internetworking devices. Those 200 companies have produced over 1500 individual products that are Wi-Fi ready and certified.

All products that are successfully certified by the program are marked appropriately by the "Wi-Fi Certified" sticker found on the product box.