Definition of WiFi

WiFi or Wi-Fi is a trademark of the Wi-Fi Alliance that may be used with certified products that belong to a class of wireless local area network (WLAN) devices based on the IEEE 802.11 standards. Because of the close relationship with its underlying standard, the term Wi-Fi is often used as a synonym for IEEE 802.11 technology.

The Wi-Fi Alliance is a global, non-profit association of companies that promotes WLAN technology and certifies products if they conform to certain standards of interoperability. Not every IEEE 802.11-compliant device is submitted for certification to the Wi-Fi Alliance, sometimes because of costs associated with the certification process and the lack of the Wi-Fi logo does not imply a device is incompatible with Wi-Fi devices.

The term Wi-Fi suggests Wireless Fidelity, compared with the long-established audio equipment certification term High Fidelity or Hi-Fi. Wireless Fidelity has often been used, even by the Wi-Fi Alliance itself in its press releases and documents; the term may also be found in a white paper on Wi-Fi from ITAA. However, based on Phil Belanger's statement, the term Wi-Fi was never supposed to mean anything at all.

The term Wi-Fi, first used commercially in August 1999, was coined by a brand consulting firm called Interbrand Corporation that had been hired by the Alliance to determine a name that was "a little catchier than 'IEEE 802.11b Direct Sequence'." Mr Belanger also said, Interbrand invented Wi-Fi as a play on words with Hi-Fi, and also created the yin yang-style Wi-Fi logo. The term Wireless Fidelity was used later as an explanation of what Wi-Fi means.

The Wi-Fi Alliance initially used an advertising slogan for Wi-Fi, "The Standard for Wireless Fidelity", but later removed the phrase from their marketing. Despite this, some documents from the Alliance dated 2003 and 2004 still contain the term Wireless Fidelity. There was also no official statement for dropping the term.

The yin yang logo indicates that a product had been certified for interoperability.

From: wikipedia.org