Almost everybody in the modern world has a Wi-Fi connection. You might also be reading this article with the help of such a connection. But have you ever wondered how does Wi-Fi work at home? Have you wondered how your Wi-Fi modem enables you to connect to the internet or how does Wi-Fi signal travel? If you have had these questions in your mind, you have come to the right place to get your answers. This article will explain in detail what is Wi-Fi and its advantages.
How Does Wi-Fi Work?
After learning what is Wi-Fi, now let us look at how does Wi-Fi work. It works by sending and receiving radio signals between devices. These radio waves enable us to connect to the internet. The radio waves that are communicated between different devices are used to transfer data. These radio waves are what enable wireless communication between devices. However, these radio waves completely differ from cell phones, car radios, and walkie-talkies. The Wi-Fi radio waves transfer and receive data in Gigahertz, whereas your car receives data in Megahertz and Kilohertz.
To understand this at a deeper level, you need to understand the meaning of frequency and hertz. Hertz is a unit of frequency. Frequency measures the number of waves passing by each second in hertz. These radio waves transmit signals in the air in the form of waves. In Megahertz, the waves are moving at a speed of 1 million cycles per second; in Gigahertz, the waves are moving at 1 billion cycles per cycle.
You get Wi-Fi frequency at a range of 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz, which is also the frequency at which your microwaves operate. Also, these Wi-Fi frequencies are split into multiple channels for traffic control and interference. You need traffic control even for invisible waves traveling in the air.
The following are the steps involved in the transmission of data across Wi-Fi channels:
- The first step in data transmission starts with you; when you connect to the internet, your data is translated into binary data in the form of 1s and 0s. This binary data is the language that is understood by your machines and computers. Your devices come with a Wi-Fi chip embedded in them, and these chips translate the binary code to wave frequencies.
- These frequencies then travel to your Wi-Fi router.
- The router converts these frequencies into binary code in form of 1s and 0s.
- This code is translated to internet traffic which goes to specific traffic you requested.
This process repeats till you get the desired output that you requested. This whole process happens at a high-speed rate. For example, a router with a speed of 82 Mbps (Megabits per second) transmits and translates 82 million 1’s and 0’s (bits) in a second. This is the answer to your query: how does Wi-Fi work at home.
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What is Wi-Fi?
Although most people have a Wi-Fi connection, very few understand how does Wi-Fi work. Wi-Fi stands for Wireless Fidelity. It is a type of network that enables devices across the world to connect wirelessly. They are devices that supply internet access to us.
To understand, think of Wi-Fi as a network of wireless devices. In the earlier days, you could only connect to these devices using cables and creating a Local Area Network (LAN). And then Wi-Fi was introduced to enable wireless communication. Wi-Fi connects to the internet, and the internet is a Wide Area Network (WAN) so that you can communicate with devices, such as computers, all over the world. Continue reading to learn how does Wi-Fi work.
What is Wi-Fi Connection?
Wi-Fi connection happens when our computer translates binary code into radio signals and transmits them using an antenna. The same router also receives data, translates it into radio signals, and then sends them to our computer adapter.
In modern times, most devices such as computers, smart TVs, and phones come with Wi-Fi cards embedded into them. The Wi-Fi card is a hardware device that processes the radio frequencies, allowing devices to have a wireless connection over the internet.
Our Wi-Fi also uses something called IEEE 802.11. This determines the standards and architecture for our Local Area Networks (LAN) and the frequency and speed our device will use. This is how Wi-Fi connection happens.
Also Read: How to Hack WiFi Password
How Does Wi-Fi Signal Travel?
The Wi-Fi frequencies have multiple channels within our device to transmit and receive data. These multiple channels exist to prevent signals overlap and improve traffic control. To better understand this concept, you can think of these signals traveling through a road. If the road has more lanes, the vehicles/traffic passing through that road will be much smoother and more efficient than a road with only a single lane.
Another interesting thing about this is that Wi-Fi signals can travel through walls; even light rays cannot travel through walls, but Wi-Fi signals can. As we have already discussed earlier, Wi-Fi uses radio waves to transmit signals, and when these signals strike a surface such as a wall, one of these three things happens to the signal:
- They get absorbed by the surface.
- They get reflected through the surface.
- They pass through (refract) the surface.
The frequency associated with Wi-Fi signals can penetrate walls to a certain extent only. The Wi-Fi signal will not pass through if the wall is too thick. Since Wi-Fi signals travel through the air, they will lose some of their energy. This would have answered your question: how does Wi-Fi signal travel. Now let us get into learning some advantages of Wi-Fi.
Advantages of Wi-Fi
There are a lot of advantages of Wi-Fi. The invention of Wi-Fi has been a huge blessing for humankind. Some advantages of Wi-Fi are:
- They are cheap and easy to set up.
- They are more accessible since communication is wireless.
- They can be highly portable. There are many wireless routers also available.
- They provide improved connectivity and communication throughout the world.
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We hope this article has given you a clear understanding of how does Wi-Fi work. Although we cannot physically see the communication happening across all these devices on a wireless network, it is still important to understand how data is transferred between devices connected over Wi-Fi. If you have any suggestions, please feel free to share your thoughts by dropping a comment in the comment section below. Stay tuned for more exciting articles!
