What is wireless, and how does it work? Wireless can transfer information between two or more physically disconnected points. Distances can be as short as a few meters in the television remote control or long, ranging from thousands to millions of kilometers for deep-space radio communications. The cell phone is probably the best example of wireless technology.
The world’s first wireless telephone conversation happened in 1880 when Alexander Graham Bell and Charles Sumner Tainter invented and patented the photophone. This telephone conducted audio conversations wirelessly over controlled light beams (electromagnetic waves). Then, in 1915, American Telephone and Telegraph considered creating a wireless phone. Still, they feared this great technology would undermine its monopoly on wired services in the United States.
They were right. Over 85 years later, this extraordinary little unwired device has revolutionized the telephone industry and put wired phone carriers out of business by offering free long distances, free nights and weekends, free sign-up offers, and the convenience of having a mobile phone virtually anywhere on the go. My Live Updates. Common wireless devices include garage door openers, cordless phones, two-way radios, satellite television, satellite Internet, GPS, and Wi-Fi.
As the personal computer became popular in the early 1970s, the idea of a portable computer emerged. In 1981, Adam Osborne produced the first portable computer (now called laptop), Osborne 1. It weighed 24 lbs, had a 5-inch screen, and cost $1795 ($4,552 today). The demand for the laptop skyrocketed.
Consumers desired portability. When the Internet boom hit in the 1990s, the idea of connecting to the Internet with a portable laptop without a wire came about. Unlike the hard-lined personal desktop computer Internet connection, this would be wireless and require a faster connection. In 1999, the Wi-Fi Alliance created the word Wi-Fi and its yin-yang-style logo as a catchier term for IEEE 802.11. Today, over 700 million people use Wi-Fi worldwide, and there are over 4 million hotspots (places with Wi-Fi Internet connectivity).
How does it work? If you’ve been in an airport, coffee shop, library, or hotel recently, chances are you’ve been in the middle of a wireless network. A wireless network uses radio waves like cell phones, televisions, and radios. Communication across a wireless network is a lot like two-way radio communication.
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Here’s what happens:
Your laptop computer translates data into a radio signal and transmits it using an internal antenna. A wireless router receives the signal and decodes it. Finally, the router sends the information to the Internet using a physical, wired Ethernet connection. Do you remember riding a bicycle with no hands for the first time? “Look, Mom! No hands!” Ahhh..free as a bird. Good old days, right?
Computer users can relate to that same experience when using wireless for the first time and every time. Sitting at that same “glued” position at that same home desktop computer at that same spot only to get up to find your spine in a gridlock. Did you know sitting is the worst possible position for your back and applies the most stress on your spine?
No more back pain and inflammation flaring up by having to remain in that fixed position in that same old 3-legged hard little wooden chair that has lived up to way more than its life expectancy. Moving from one place to another without worrying about tripping over wires is made easy. Get comfy, lay on the couch, and watch TV while fiddling on the Internet with your laptop, browsing news headlines, or checking email. Wireless or Wi-Fi enables the Internet user to roam freely anywhere in their house, business, or another wireless network (up to 150 feet indoors and 300 feet outdoors) with one or multiple computers.
