Everything You Need to Know About WiFI

It’s difficult to imagine how the modern world would function without WiFi connectivity — that’s how much we’ve come to depend on it. But despite its critical importance, WiFi is shrouded in mystery, and not many of its daily users understand what it actually is and how it works.
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WiFi 101: Brief Introduction for Beginners
What Is Free and Public WiFi and How to Get It?
What Are the Best Apps to Find WiFi?
What Do Different WiFi Technologies Do?
Conclusion
FAQ

WiFi 101: Brief Introduction for Beginners

If you don’t know how to answer questions like “What is WiFi?” or “How does WiFi work?” then this gentle introduction will get you up to speed in no time.

What Is WiFi?

The term WiFi is used to describe a family of wireless network protocols for local area networking of devices and internet access.

The history of these protocols goes back to 1997. The first WiFi generation, referred to as 802.11b, offered speeds of only up to 11 Mbit/s, while the latest generation, called WiFi 6E or 802.11ax, supports speeds of up to 9,608 Mbit/s.

The impressive performance improvement has been made possible by advanced features such as orthogonal frequency-division multiple access (OFDMA) and multi user-multiple-input multiple-output (MU-MIMO), increases in WiFi router processing power, and support for additional WiFi frequency bands, among other things.

How Does WiFi Work?

WiFi works much like other wireless communication standards because it uses radio waves to transmit data over the air.

How Does WiFi Work

Whereas the FM radio band is from 88 to 108 MHz, the two most widely used WiFi frequency bands use the 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz frequency. There are several reasons why routers have two WiFi frequency bands, and they include faster speeds and decreased signal interference.

The two bands are sub-divided into multiple channels, and configuring a WiFi router to use the least cluttered channel is one of the easiest and most effective ways to achieve excellent performance.

What Is the Difference Between Business and Home WiFi Networks?

Both business and home WiFi networks rely on the same wireless network protocols, but home networks typically consist of just one or perhaps two WiFi access points, which are devices that allow clients like smartphones and laptops to connect to the local network and the internet.

Business networks, on the other hand, often consist of dozens of WiFi access points. The access points can be arranged in a mesh configuration for effortless scalability and improved end-user experience.

How to Secure a WiFi Network?

Now that you know the answer to the question “What is a wireless network?” we need to talk about WiFi network security.

Modern WiFi networks are secured using two main wireless security protocols:

  • WPA2 (Wi-Fi Protected Access 2)
  • WPA3 (Wi-Fi Protected Access 3)

As you can probably guess, WPA2 came before WPA3, so it’s not as secure but more WiFi routers support it. When used with a strong password, even WPA2 offers a decent level of protection, but it’s best to go with WPA3 whenever possible.

You definitely don’t want to leave your WiFi network unprotected because that would make it incredibly easy for malicious cybercriminals to steal your personal information and private data.

What Is Free and Public WiFi and How to Get It?

Free WiFi is a highly sought-after commodity in this day and age. After all, who wouldn’t want to steam, download, and browse without paying any money for the privilege? The only problem is that not all public WiFi is free.

Free WiFi

There are many public WiFi networks, such as those created by local governments to provide a municipal area with wireless internet access, that can be used only after paying a fee.

“Okay, but how to get free WiFi near me?” you ask? It’s simple: use one of the best apps to find WiFi listed in the next section of this article to instantly discover all free public WiFi hotspots near you. That’s how to get free internet anywhere!

What Are the Best Apps to Find WiFi?

“WiFi near me” is a popular Google search term despite the fact that Google seldom provides the answer users are looking for. Instead of wasting time with Google, use the following best WiFi finder apps to quickly and easily find free WiFi near you:

#1
NetSpot
#2
TWC WiFi Finder
#3
WiFi Password Finder

choice #1
NetSpot
Wi-Fi Site Surveys, Analysis, Troubleshooting runs on a MacBook (macOS 10.12+) or any laptop (Windows 7/8/10/11) with a standard 802.11a/b/g/n/ac/ax wireless network adapter.
  • 4.8
  • 969 User reviews
  • 500K
  • Users

  • Inspector Mode

    Gives you real-time insights into the WiFi networks around you.

  • Survey Mode

    Provides a comprehensive, map-based analysis of your WiFi network's performance.

  • Planning Mode

    Enables you to simulate and plan your WiFi network's layout and coverage.

NetSpot — a professional WiFi finder app capable of conducting WiFi site surveys and performing in-depth troubleshooting. NetSpot supports all major operating systems, including iOS and Android.

NetSpot Survey Mode

In fact, NetSpot for Android has been included on many lists of the best WiFi apps for Android for its ability to turn any Android device into a capable WiFi analyzer.


choice #2
TWC WiFi Finder
Available for Android and iOS devices.

TWC WiFi Finder — a unique WiFi finder that helps users connect to the nationwide TWC WiFi network from Time Warner.

TWC WiFi Finder

The TWC WiFi network consists of approximately 500,000 hotspots that provide free access to high-speed internet.


choice #3
WiFi Password Finder
Available for all Windows operating systems (Windows XP, Vista, Windows 7 and Windows 8, 8.1, Windows 10).

WiFi Password Finder — a free WiFi password finder utility that works with all Windows operating systems and can be used to retrieve saved passwords that you no longer remember.

WiFi Password Finder

What Do Different WiFi Technologies Do?

As a WiFi user, you may encounter many different WiFi technologies, and you need to know what they do to take advantage of them:

  • WiFi calling: When a device obtains internet access by connecting to a WiFi network, it can reach a cellular carrier even when there’s no cell tower nearby to make a phone call.
WiFi calling
  • In-flight WiFi: Increasingly many airlines let passengers connect to the internet over WiFi even when thousands of feet in the air, and this technology is called in-flight WiFi.
In-flight WiFi
  • WiFi Direct: Using WiFi Direct (or sometimes Direct WiFi), WiFi-equipped devices can establish direct connections with each other without the help of a router.
WiFi Direct
  • WiFi RTT: WiFi Round Trip Time is a technology that makes it possible to measure the location of WiFi-enabled devices. The precision of WiFi RTT is around 1–2 meters.

Conclusion

WiFi is a truly world-changing technology that has seeped into many aspects of our lives. Given its importance, it makes sense for all of its users to familiarize themselves with the basics of how it works. This article serves as a brief introduction to WiFi for beginners, and it links to multiple additional articles that you can explore to further increase your mastery of WiFi networking.

SO, WE RECOMMEND
NetSpot
Wi-Fi Site Surveys, Analysis, Troubleshooting runs on a MacBook (macOS 10.12+) or any laptop (Windows 7/8/10/11) with a standard 802.11a/b/g/n/ac/ax wireless network adapter.
  • 4.8
  • 969 User reviews
  • #1
  • Wi-Fi Site Surveys, Analysis, Troubleshooting
  • 500K
  • Users
  • 10
  • Years
  • Cross-platform
  • Mac/Windows

FAQ

What is WiFi and how does it work?

WiFi is a family of wireless network protocols for local area networking of devices and internet access, and it works much like other wireless communication standards because it uses radio waves to transmit data over the air.

Which frequency band is best for WiFi?

For maximum performance and coverage, we recommend you use all bands supported by your WiFi router at the same time because sometimes it’s best to use the 2.4 GHz band and sometimes the 5 GHz band performs better.

How do I connect to a public WiFi?

If you want to connect to a public WiFi network, then you need to know the network’s name and sometimes even its password. You can then simply select it on your device just like any other network.

How can I get a free WiFi hotspot?

You can create a free WiFi hotspot yourself by sharing your smartphone’s cellular data connection, or you can find an existing free WiFi hotspot near you.

How do I find WiFi near me?

Free WiFi hotspots are often clearly labeled, so finding them can be as easy as looking at the available networks in your area. There are also apps and websites that list WiFi hotspots in different locations.

What is the best WiFi finder app?

We recommend the following WiFi finder apps:

  1. NetSpot
  2. TWC WiFi Finder
  3. WiFi Password Finder

What is the difference between WiFi and WiFi Direct?

WiFi Direct is a technology that allows WiFi-equipped devices to establish direct connections with each other without a router.

How does WiFi calling work?

WiFi calling works by transmitting voice data across the public internet to reach cellular carriers even when there’s no cell tower nearby.

Is in-flight WiFi free?

That varies from airline to airline. Fortunately, more and more airlines provide in-flight WiFi free of charge these days.

What is WiFi RTT?

WiFi RTT, or WiFi Round Trip Time, is a technology that makes it possible to measure the location of WiFi-enabled devices.

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Read next in All about Wi-Fi

If you want to dive deeper into this Wi-Fi thing, check out the following articles about Wi-Fi security, the best apps for wireless networking, inflight WiFi, etc.
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