The roots of Wi-Fi go way back to the 1940. That’s when a popular Hollywood actress and inventor by the name of Hedy Lamarr came up with a way to prevent radio signals from being tampered with. That was a pretty important goal, since back then, radio-controlled torpedoes could easily be intercepted and change their course, which meant a huge fail for the Navy submarines. So, she came up with the brilliant idea of frequency-hopping signals, where people who controlled them could jump from one frequency to the other and make those torpedoes practically immune to radio interference. Now grab your double-knit blazer and let’s fast forward to the 1980s. This is when personal computers had begun to enter our lives for good. But at that time, computers were connected to the internet through the infamous Ethernet cables. Seems to me like scientists were getting tired of tripping over all those cables since they decided they wanted to start sending data using radio signals. However, those early attempts were unsuccessful since it all bounced back on walls, furniture, and pretty much anything that stood in a computer’s way. What scientists didn’t know at the time was that the problem had been solved a decade before PCs were even invented! It all started back in the 1970s, with electrical engineer Dr. John O’Sullivan, a.k.a. “the father of Wi-Fi.” At the time, he and his team were trying to detect radio signals from distant black holes in space, and they came up with complex equations called Fast Fourier transforms. Unfortunately, they couldn’t detect those black holes, and they put all their equipment back on the shelves to sit and collect dust. Surprisingly, twenty years later, Dr. O’Sullivan and his co-workers decided to give wireless networking a chance, and those forgotten complex equations would play a key role in the invention of Wi-Fi. After a lot of experimentation, they took their fancy Fast Fourier transforms, added them in the mixture with the data equations they’d previously tried to send over radio, and thus they formed the basis for the Wi-Fi we all know and love today! But, again, that was just the basis. Later in 1996, they further developed their original key patent, and by 1997 they finally cracked the code and came up with the first version of the 802.11 protocol. (Now is where you go, “Oooh! Ahhh!”) Oh, well, maybe you didn’t catch what I was saying among all that numeric mumbo jumbo. Ok, so let’s talk about the name you’re more familiar with: Wi-Fi. What does it mean anyway? I always thought it was some sort of acronym or abbreviation for two technical terms or something. But truth be told, --and that’s what we do here on Bright Side --it doesn’t stand for anything! Here’s how the naming situation went down. Since their first protocol, the Wi-Fi Alliance wanted to come up with a catchier name than 802.11 (good idea!), so they hired some market-savvy people to help them with that. And ta-da: “Wi-Fi” was born! Wi-fi is a pun for the word Hi-Fi, which means “high fidelity” – a
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technical term used for high-quality audio technology. Now imagine walking into a café and asking the staff for the password to the “IEEE 802.11”! Anywho, now that we’ve covered all these decades and how we got where we are today, let’s take a look at how Wi-Fi really works. You already know that wireless internet helps you send and receive files, pictures, messages, and whatnot, but did you know that this is all via radio waves? (Hey, don’t forget about Hedy Lamarr and Dr. O’Sullivan – I told you all that stuff for a reason!) Yes, Wi-Fi uses radio waves to transmit data between your router (which is your Wi-Fi source) and your device (or the “receiver). These frequencies are measured in Gigahertz. To put all the sciencey stuff behind that in laymen’s terms, imagine this: You’re sitting on the beach enjoying the sun and watching the waves crash into the shore. If you were to calculate the time between each wave-crash, you’d be calculating the frequency of the wave. Let’s assume that the time it takes for each wave to hit the shore is one second: that second is calculated by hertz. In other words, 1 Hertz = 1 second. Now, 1 Gigahertz equals 1 BILLION waves per second. If you could see that many ocean waves moving so fast, then you might wanna scoot outta there and head for the hills! So, the frequencies Wi-Fi routers use are 2.4 or 5 Gigahertz per second, which is why data gets transferred so quickly to your phone. When it comes to speed, the 5 Gigahertz frequency sends information faster over shorter distances, whereas the 2.4 Gigahertz router covers farther distances but goes slower. You also have to keep in mind the interference from other devices in our homes that also use the 2.4 Gigahertz radio frequencies. For example, if you have baby monitors, garage doors, microwaves, cordless phones, and wireless cameras, they can interfere with your Wi-Fi. And this kind of interference can reduce the speed, or you might lose your internet connection altogether! Uh-oh! Hold off before you microwave some popcorn while binging on some Bright Side videos! Although, the latter 5 Gigahertz wireless frequency has 23 channels available to send all your information. Therefore, it doesn’t let any of those home devices cause connectivity issues. When you turn your phone or computer on and get on the internet, all the information you’d like to access is broken down into binary code. You’ve probably heard of this computer language made up of 0s and 1s. And when you access something through Wi-Fi, then that binary code is transformed into wave frequencies. If you’re trying to visualize how this process works exactly, think of it this way. Imagine you’re trying to send an embarrassing picture you took on your birthday to your best friend for a laugh. When you hit “send,” the photo is broken down into smaller pixels or packets and travels around different routers until it reaches your friend. Then, these packets are quickly reassembled like a puzzle, and your friend can finally see the photo (and giggle accordingly). All that happens with pretty much anything you try to send, be it videos, recordings, even my voice and the animation you’re seeing right now! Whoaaa, mindblown… Do you ever wonder what it’d be like if we could see all these radio frequencies swirling around the room? I picture myself sitting comfortably on the couch watching cat videos – I mean, getting some work done, of course! – and suddenly all these waves become visible and I can see everything. I see the little packets of data going from my router to my phone, all those pixels and colorful frequencies drifting through the air. Everything would be traveling around me like a long exposure photo in slow motion, kinda like a little rainbow storm right in my living room! Now, I know what you’re thinking. (Ok, maybe I don’t, but I can take a guess.) If we’re truly surrounded by all these radio waves, what does it do to our health? Is Wi-Fi dangerous? Well, the short answer is no. Wi-Fi works at extremely low voltages. Even at short distances, Wi-Fi is just part of the household "smog" that’s generated by TV and radio signals. Wi-Fi uses non-iodizing wavelengths of radiation that are harmless to the human body. The sun, on the other hand, uses iodizing radiation wavelengths (or ultraviolet rays) that aren’t so good for you. In fact, it’s more dangerous for your body to go outside than it is if you just sit next to your Wi-Fi router. Great! Think I’ll keep myself planted on the couch then! And to put your mind at ease a bit more, according to the World Health Organization, there is no scientific evidence to confirm that exposure to low levels of electromagnetic fields has any negative effects on our health. Ok, now that we’ve all calmed down and taken off our aluminum foil hats, let’s talk about why your Wi-Fi signal drops in certain places around your house. Wi-Fi works just like light and sound. The further you are away from the router, the less energy you get. A typical router works at about 100 feet in every direction. As for what can block it, that’s pretty much anything that conducts electricity, like metal, water, mirrors, and even our bodies since they mainly consist of water. For example, if you stand between your router and your device, you might notice a signal drop. Sometimes, even thick brick walls and concrete can hinder the signal – you just probably won’t notice the difference since it’s teeny-tiny, another highly technical scientific measurement. Just smaller than a “tad”. And there ya have it, folks! Now that you know a little more about the Wi-Fi you spend hours and hours on each day, perhaps you’ll appreciate it that much more! …Especially if you were around during the dark days of dial-up – I still thank my lucky stars each time I hop online within a fraction of a second! So, are you as addicted to Wi-Fi as I am?