Wi-Fi Uses

Posted by RAVINDRA.R 3/31/2010 05:41:00 PM

• Internet access

A Wi-Fi enabled device such as a personal computer, video game console, mobile phone, MP3 player or personal digital assistant can connect to the Internet when within range of a wireless network connected to the Internet. The coverage of one or more (interconnected) access points — called a hotspot — can comprise an area as small as a few rooms or as large as many square miles. Coverage in the larger area may depend on a group of access points with overlapping coverage. Wi-Fi technology has been used in wireless mesh networks, for example, in London.^[3]

In addition to private use in homes and offices, Wi-Fi can provide public access at Wi-Fi hotspots provided either free-of-charge or to subscribers to various commercial services. Organizations and businesses - such as those running airports, hotels and restaurants - often provide free-use hotspots to attract or assist clients. Enthusiasts or authorities who wish to provide services or even to promote business in selected areas sometimes provide free Wi-Fi access. As of 2008^[update] more than 300 metropolitan-wide Wi-Fi (Muni-Fi) projects had started.^[4] As of May 2008^[update] the Czech Republic had 879 Wi-Fi based Wireless Internet service providers.

Routers that incorporate a digital subscriber line modem or a cable modem and a Wi-Fi access point, often set up in homes and other premises, can provide Internet-access and internetworking to all devices connected (wirelessly or by cable) to them. One can also connect Wi-Fi devices in ad-hoc mode for client-to-client connections without a router. Wi-Fi also enables places that would traditionally not have network access to connect, for example bathrooms, kitchens and garden sheds.

• City-wide Wi-Fi

In the early 2000s, many cities around the world announced plans for city-wide Wi-Fi networks. This proved to be much more difficult than their promoters initially envisioned with the result that most of these projects were either canceled or placed on indefinite hold. A few were successful, for example in 2005, Sunnyvale, California became the first city in the United States to offer city-wide free Wi-Fi. (As of 2009^[update] few of the Municipal Wi-Fi firms have entered the field of smart grid networks