WiFi ( also spelled WiFi or WiFi) is a popular technology that allows an electronic device to exchange data wireless (using radio waves) over a computer network, including high-speed Internet connections. The WiFi Alliance defines WiFi as any "wireless local area network (WLAN) products that are based on the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers' (IEEE) 802.11 standards". However, since most modern WLANs are based on these standards, the term "Wi-Fi" is used in general English as a synonym for "WLAN".
A device that can use WiFi (such as a personal computer, video-game console, smartphone, tablet, or digital audio player) can connect to a network resource such as the Internet via a wireless network access point. Such an access point (or hot spot) has a range of about 20 meters (65 feet) indoors and a greater range outdoors. Hot spot coverage can comprise an area as small as a single room with walls that block radio waves or as large as many square miles — this is achieved by using multiple overlapping access points.
"WiFi" is a trademark of the WiFi Alliance and the brand name for products using the IEEE 802.11 family of standards. Only Wi-Fi products that complete WiFi Alliance interoperability certification testing successfully may use the "WiFi CERTIFIED" designation and trademark.
WiFi has had a checkered security history. Its earliest encryption system, WEP, proved easy to break. Much higher quality protocols, WPA and WPA2, were added later. However, an optional feature added in 2007, called WiFi Protected Setup (WPS), has a flaw that allows a remote attacker to recover the router's WPA or WPA2 password in a few hours on most implementations. Some manufacturers have recommended turning off the WPS feature. The WiFi Alliance has since updated its test plan and certification program to ensure all newly certified devices resist brute-force AP PIN attacks.