subject: How Does A Wireless Internet Connection Actually Work? [print this page] Wireless internet is now used on a wide scale; hotspots can be set up just about anywhere and are found throughout homes and business premises alike. Many cities also have free wireless access for residents. If you have your laptop you are more than likely to be able to connect to one of these free zones from many public places.
There are a huge number of benefits to wireless internet. They are easy to configure and are of a low cost. Have you ever thought about what WiFi actually is and how it works? Here is some information which covers the basics of wireless technology.
A wireless connection is very similar to two way radio communication. It uses radio waves in order to work. A wireless adapter in a computer or a laptop translates data into radio signals. This data is then transmitted via an antenna.
A wireless router then picks up this signal. It decodes the information and sends it to the internet via an Ethernet connection.
This also happens in reverse. The router receives information from the internet which is then translated into a radio signal and sent to the wireless adapter within the computer.
The radios which are used for wireless networks are very similar to those used in mobile phones and similar devices. They transmit and receive radio waves and convert 1s and 0s into radio waves and vise versa. There are however some small differences between these standard radios and the type of signal which wireless internet uses.
One difference is that the frequency which is used by wireless networks is usually either 2.4 GHz or 5GHz. This is a lot higher than the frequencies used for televisions and mobile phones. This means that more data can be carried. 802.11a transmits data at 5GHz and this means it moves around 54 megabits of data per second. 802.11b transmits data at 2.4GHz and this moves around 11 megabits of data per second. 802.11a is now increasingly popular as it provides a faster speed and in recent years has become far more affordable. The newest and most efficient standard is known as 802.11n. It has the potential to transmit up to 140 megabits of data per second.
Another significant difference is that Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) is used. This is a technique which splits up the radio signal into different parts before it is received. This means that there is far less interference.
This article provides some basic information on how wireless technology works and the different techniques which help it to function.
