Networks known as "WLAN" (abbreviation of "Wireless Local Area Network") or "Wi-Fi" (abbreviation of "Wireless Fidelity") are digital computer networks providing a wireless extension, via radio waves, to the Ethernet data network.
The most widespread standard today is IEEE 802.11 (Wi-Fi), which encompasses a number of amendments:
• IEEE 802.11a: 5 GHz frequency spectrum, incompatible with the 2.4 GHz spectrum
• IEEE 802.11b: 2.4 GHz frequency spectrum, maximum data transfer rate 11 Mbit/s
• IEEE 802.11g: 2.4 GHz frequency spectrum, maximum data transfer rate 56 Mbit/s
• IEEE 802.11n: 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz frequency spectrum, maximum data transfer rate 540 Mbit/s
• IEEE 802.11ac: 5 GHz frequency spectrum, maximum (theoretical) data transfer rate 13 Gbit/s
"WLAN" networks are designed to cover small areas and when users move around these networks do not provide a network handover, unlike the GSM, UMTS or LTE standards.
The following document gives more specific answers to frequently asked questions:
