Wi-Fi is a wireless standard used on both home and public wireless networks worldwide
Most modern devices like laptops, netbooks, smartphones etc come equiped with Wi-Fi capabilty and you can use this to connect the device to home/office and public networks( found in airports,bars etc).
Advantages/Disadvantages of Wifi Networks
Wireless networks are generally cheaper,quicker and easier to setup than wired networks as their is no cable to run.
It is also easier for new devices to join the network as they don’t need to locate a physical access point. You can also accommodate many more devices as most Access points allow up to 255 devices. However there would be performance problems with connecting so many devices.
It is for these reasons that it the main access mechanism, used in home/home office networks.
However in larger buildings it may be difficult to get a signal without using repeaters and this can then become more complex to setup. Wi-Fi is much slower than most Ethernet systems but when the main use is Internet access then this makes no real difference as the Internet connection becomes the limiting factor.
Setting Up a Wireless (Wi-Fi) Network.
To connect devices together using (Wi-Fi) the devices need to be (Wi-Fi) equipped and you need to have a Wireless Access point (WAP).
The Wireless Access point (WAP) serves the same function as the hub/switch in the wired network. It will connect devices using wireless to each other and to other devices on the wired Network (LAN).
Important- Generally a Separate Wireless Access point (WAP) isn’t needed as it is provided by the Router that connects your home network to the Internet.
Wi-Fi Standards and Speeds
Wi-Fi uses the IEEE 802.11 family of standards.
A typical wireless access point using 802.11b or 802.11g with a stock antenna might have a range of 32 m (120 ft) indoors and 95 m (300 ft) outdoors. IEEE 802.11n, however, can exceed that range by more than two times (Wikipedea on wi-fi).
Secured Wireless (Wi-Fi)
It is common for many home networks and business networks to only allow their own authorized devices to use their wireless network. This is achieved by securing the network.
The most common mechanism use WEP (Wired Equivalent Privacy).
This is an old form of encryption that has many flaws but it does provide a good level of security against casual snooping, but not against professional eavesdroppers.
It has been superseded by the newer and more secure WPA, but it is widely used because it is universally supported.
After selecting it you will need to enter a pass key which is either 5 or 13 Hex pairs depending on whether you use a 64 bit or 128 bit (recommended) encryption.
The Pass key is effectively a random number that you can just make up or some systems will auto generate them based on a passphrase/password which you enter.
In either case the same key is used on all the clients that connect to that access point.
Note: HEX means numbers 0-9 and letters abcdef (not case sensitive)
See How to Setup A Secure Wireless Network
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