Wi-Fi has been a Global phenomenon especially here in the Philippines. There are even messages on the internet which indicates “Wi-Fi is Life”. This is how the need for Data Services has influenced the lives of the Filipinos. Many have been asking where did this technology came from? How did it start? Who invented it? How will it evolve and help the future of Data Services? We will discuss it here and draw the comparison with the existing cellular infrastructure (3G, LTE and 5G). Let us first answer the questions given to us:

• Where did Wi-Fi come from? What does the acronym Wi-Fi mean?
  
  • Wi-Fi is a symbolic acronym for WLAN (Wireless Local Area Network) and not Wireless Fidelity. Based on IEEE standards it is 802.11 xx as the standard name for Wi-Fi. If you can see Wi-Fi came from Local Area Network which is based on a wire connection. A basic Local Area Network consist of computers, printers which are connected thru CAT 5 cables and have switches and routers. The objective is communication between Computers and the whole building. Then why did it became wireless? Imagine wiring up the whole floor of your company. You need to have raised flooring, structured cabling is a very tedious and expensive job. Every time you go from one place to another desk you have to un-plug your laptop and plug again. Then due to this need of reducing cost on physical wiring and mobility. The idea of going wireless came about, it did not take long when wireless LAN ports were inserted in the slots of laptops with physical antennas. This gave birth to WLAN specifications by IEEE.
    
  • Its birth has been attributed to Mr. Vic Hayes in 1974, who would be part of NCR corporation. The collaboration between AT&T and NCR would pave the way for the creation of waveLan. The patent would be awarded to NCR and AT&T. During this time a group of scientists in Australia were deep in experiments on Wi-Fi in association with CSIRO. John O’Sullivan, Terence Percival, Graham Daniels, Diet Ostry, John Deane were awarded a patent. This was the use of Wi-Fi to “un-smear the signal”.
    
  • We would also acknowledge the contributions of Ms. Heddy Lammar and Mr. George Antheil to have invented a Frequency Hopping System for Spread Spectrum. This is now used for wireless communication systems with Cellular and Wi-Fi networks.
• What are the Organizations which have handled the Wi-Fi Protocol?
  
  • IEEE is the main organization which gave the official name, that is 802.11 to Wi-Fi. In 1999 Wi-Fi alliance was born, this group focused on the interoperability and created the trademark of the equipment manufactured for Wi-Fi.
  • The official symbol is shown:
    
    

    
    

• The evolution of Wi-Fi Protocol 802.11 since 1997
  

Source:Wikipedia

Important equipment of terminology of Wi-Fi as reference

1. Access Point (AP) – Is the network device which serves as an interface between the wireless equipped computers and the rest of the network. The equipment which radiates the wireless connection to devices such as computers, phones and other wireless devices. Soon this would include sensors or objects (IoT).
   
2. Hotspot – are areas in which Wi-Fi service is available. They can be identified as part of the mall. Building or facility in which high data services are needed. For RF design purposes, they are identified in the floor plan and have AP’s installed.
   
3. Router – A router accepts multiple internal connections, wired and wireless, and allows them to use the same external IP address. A router works on Layer 3 devises as defined by the OSI layer.
   
4. Switch – A switch allow connections to multiple devices, manage ports, manage VLAN security settings. It supplies power to AP’s (PoE). It works on Layer 2 of the OSI.
   
5. SSID – Service Set Identifier is the name assigned to a Wi-Fi (Wireless) network. Example: IBM Wi-Fi, Cisco Wi-Fi, Cisco Guest Wi-Fi etc.
   
6. MAC Address – The unique 48-bit serial number in the network circuitry of Ethernet and Wi-Fi devices that identifies that machine from every other globally.
   
7. WEP – Wired Equivalent Privacy is a set of encryption algorithms designed to protect data transmitted wirelessly.
   
8. WAP/WAP2 – WPA, or Wi-Fi Protected Access, is an improved form of encryption for wireless data.
   

What makes Wi-Fi more attractive to subscribers and operators for data services?

• Wi-Fi has given a cheaper alternative for data services compared to the offered traditional cellular services. How come? Here are the major points:
  
  • It is an unlicensed band, meaning the operator or new player can use the frequency without paying any regulatory fee to the government.
    
  • The infrastructure used is much simple compared to the traditional Telco set up.
    
  • Its pure data no expensive circuit switch equipment needed.
    
• With 802.11 ac, we are reaching 1.3 to 3.39 Gbps as the data rate. This is comparative to the data rate given by Telco operators.
  
• However, there is no wireless network which is completely immune to interference. This includes Wi-Fi, since it is unlicensed. It means your home router or switch has the same operating frequency with your microwave oven or wireless or cordless phones. This is one disadvantage of Wi-Fi compared to licensed frequency bands.
  

Can Wi-Fi and 3G-LTE co-exist in today’s Data Services?

• Yes, they are co-existing. This is thru Wi-Fi off-load system. This means that in both indoor and outdoor solutions the cellular system can limit or set a threshold of data usage. After which the excess data users can be diverted to Wi-Fi. This is using a third-party equipment to make the Cellular and Wi-Fi network talk to each other and set up the threshold for data traffic.
  
• In common practice, the operator will have to specify the hotspot area and build the AP’s accordingly. This would make the subscribers by priority stay in the Wi-Fi service immediately and move to cellular service once they move out of the hot spot area.
  
• We must understand that, Wi-Fi also needs to have substantial capacity to cater for the subscribers. Given the limitation of frequency channels, the AP’s must be spaced 10 to 15 meters apart to avoid interference and create a good overlap for reselection of data service. This is how the collaboration between Cellular and Wi-Fi happens. Cellular gets more data traffic and the excess is given to Wi-Fi to balance the data load.
  

Comparison of Cellular Data rate (Throughput Capability) and Wi-Fi

Based on the table, Cellular technologies will get better data rates with the 5G technology which is proposed to be commercial by year 2020. In the Wi-Fi technology the 802.11ax protocol will be made commercial by early 2019. This makes the data market more dynamic for subscribers to enjoy better services. This means both Cellular and Wi-Fi will co-exist to meet the growing data demands.

Disclaimer: This Blog is the product of the authors 20 years’ experience in the Cellular Telecommunications in the Philippines. This does not have any relation or thoughts with my current, former and future employers. This includes my customers in all my years in Telecoms in the Philippines. All ideas are mine by way of experience. References are found in Wikipedia and corporate websites in the internet which are for public use and viewing. This includes presentations or Blog pages which are also acknowledge by the author.