Wi-Fi is the family of wireless local network (WLAN) technologies based on the IEEE 802.11 standards that connect devices to routers and the internet.
How Wi-Fi works
Devices communicate by radio with an access point or router in the 2.4 GHz, 5 GHz and, since Wi-Fi 6E, 6 GHz bands. “Wi-Fi” is a trademark of the Wi-Fi Alliance, which certifies compatible devices; despite a popular myth, it is not short for “Wireless Fidelity”. Since 2018 generations have simple names:
- Wi-Fi 5 – IEEE 802.11ac;
- Wi-Fi 6/6E – IEEE 802.11ax, better in crowded places;
- Wi-Fi 7 – IEEE 802.11be, certified since 2024, with multi-link operation and multi-gigabit speeds.
Why Wi-Fi matters for security
Radio signals reach beyond walls, so anyone nearby can try to listen or connect. The history of Wi-Fi encryption shows why settings matter:
- WEP (1999) can be broken in minutes and must not be used;
- WPA2 (2004) is still common but vulnerable to offline password cracking and was affected by the KRACK attack (2017);
- WPA3 (2018) uses SAE handshakes that resist password guessing; early implementations had the Dragonblood flaws.
Other threats include “evil twin” access points that imitate public hotspots, weak router passwords, vulnerable router firmware and WPS PIN attacks.
Best practices
- Use WPA3 (or WPA2-AES) with a long passphrase; turn off WPS.
- Update router firmware and change the default admin password.
- Put guests and IoT devices on a separate network.
- On public Wi-Fi, rely on HTTPS and a trusted VPN, and do not accept unknown certificates.
