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How Does Wifi Work

Wi-Fi allows devices to connect to the internet and communicate wirelessly using radio frequencies, just like other wireless technologies. It transmits data in the gigahertz frequency range, which is much higher than frequencies used for cell phones, radios, and televisions. Specifically, Wi-Fi uses either 2.4 gigahertz or 5 gigahertz frequencies to transmit information through the air in the form of radio waves, in a similar manner to microwave ovens which also use frequencies around 2.4 gigahertz. This is why interference can sometimes occur between old microwaves and Wi-Fi signals.

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Jhuliane Ralph
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35 views

How Does Wifi Work

Wi-Fi allows devices to connect to the internet and communicate wirelessly using radio frequencies, just like other wireless technologies. It transmits data in the gigahertz frequency range, which is much higher than frequencies used for cell phones, radios, and televisions. Specifically, Wi-Fi uses either 2.4 gigahertz or 5 gigahertz frequencies to transmit information through the air in the form of radio waves, in a similar manner to microwave ovens which also use frequencies around 2.4 gigahertz. This is why interference can sometimes occur between old microwaves and Wi-Fi signals.

Uploaded by

Jhuliane Ralph
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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How Does Wi-Fi

Work?
Do you ever have that moment where you step back and think about how
something you use every day actually works? More specifically have you ever
wondered how the heck computers actually communicate wirelessly?

Well, that's exactly the question we're going to be tackling in today's podcast. 

What Is WiFi?
First, let's cover some of the basics. WiFi stands for Wireless Fidelity and is
the same thing as saying WLAN which stands for "Wireless Local Area
Network."
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See also: How to Boost Your WiFi Signal (Part 1)

WiFi works off of the same principal as other wireless devices - it uses radio
frequencies to send signals between devices. The radio frequencies are
completely different say from walky talkies, car radios, cell phones, and
weather radios. For example your car stereo receives frequencies in Kilohertz
and Megahertz range (AM and FM stations), and WiFi transmits and receives
data in the Gigahertz range.

To break it down even further, Hertz (Hz) is simply a unit of frequency. Let's
say you're standing on a pier watching waves come in. As you look down at the
waves you can see the crest of each wave roll on by. If you counted how many
seconds between each wave crest this would be the frequency of the waves. So
if the time between each crest was 1 second that would meant the wave
frequency was 1 hertz or one cycle per second.

Comparing sea waves to Mhz and Ghz, these waves are moving at 1 million
and 1 billion cycles per second in the air! And to receive the information found
in these waves, your radio receiver needs to be set to receive waves of a certain
frequency.
For WiFi this frequency happens to be 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz. These waves are very
similar to the frequency found in your microwave! Your microwave uses
2.450Ghz to heat up food and your router uses 2.412 GHz to 2.472 GHz to
transmit your data over WiFi. This is why some people with old or faulty
microwaves experience a problem with their WiFi signal when they try to
make popcorn.
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Just to clear up a popular misconception: These microwaves are non-ionizing


radiation. That means that they do not cause cancer. That’s right kids,
microwaves will not make you radioactive and glow in the dark!

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