WIFI (wireless fidelity) is the trademark of the manufacturer of Wi-Fi alliance, which can be used as the brand certification of products. It is a wireless local area network (WLAN) device based on IEEE 802. 1 1 standard, and it is the most widely used short-distance wireless transmission technology at present. Based on the close relationship between the two systems, Wi-Fi is often considered as a synonym for the IEEE 802. 1 1 standard.

1996, Lucent, an American network communication equipment manufacturer, initiated the establishment of the Wireless Ethernet Compatibility Alliance (WECA) and began to establish the wireless network protocol (WLAN). At first, the development was not smooth, and the momentum was far less than that of Bluetooth.

1999, WECA changed its name to Wi-Fi Alliance, re-established a set of authentication standards, and put forward a series of specifications of wireless network technology-802.11,including 802. 1. b, 802.1.

Wi-Fi as the nickname of 802. 1 1b is the same as Ethernet as the nickname of IEEE 802.3. Wireless network products that have passed the Wi-Fi alliance compatibility test, even products from different manufacturers, can achieve interoperability and compatibility, such as PCMCIA wireless network cards and USB wireless modules. According to the data of the Wi-Fi Alliance, about 680 products have obtained the Wi-Fi certification by the end of 2002 since the alliance began to carry out the certification in 2000.