8 Amazing Facts About WiFi that You Probably Did Not Know

The internet of things (IoT) has become almost a part of our necessity lately. The fundamental enabler of IoT is WiFi.

WiFi has made lives easier and better. It has also played a huge role in bringing us together no matter what your geographical locations are.

In this article, I have discussed a few extraordinary and mind-blowing facts about WiFi that you have probably not heard of in the past. Take a peek.

1.       The term WiFi was invented by Interbrand

You probably know that the term WiFi stands for Wireless Fidelity. Well, that is actually wrong. But don’t worry. You aren’t the only person to think in that way. Most people believe that the term WiFi stands for wireless fidelity.

 The wrong notion cropped up from a nonsense advertising slogan that stood for “The standard for ‘Wireless Fidelity’.”

The term WiFi was actually invented as a play on words of the term, Hi-Fi (High Fidelity).

2.       The WiFi revolution is in full flow

WiFi has actually changed the world. Vinton G. Cerf, the father of the internet predicted in 1992 that IP would appear on everything. Well, it finally happened.

A large number of WiFI enabled thermostats, light bulbs, monitoring and control systems, wearable devices, security gadgets etc. are available in the market these days. IPs even appear on daily objects ranging from walking sticks to T-shirts.

So you see, the revolution has already happened.

3.       WiFi has the ability to travel more than what you think

You might develop this notion at times when you fail to get a stable internet connection I your room. If you think like that, you aren’t exactly right in all aspect.

Many WiFi networks that are typically made for home use normally have a range of around 30m. So your point might be justified to this instant. But there are certain special networks that can travel more than 275kms in distance.

Such additional coverage is achieved by network technicians though special WiFi range extenders.

4.       Make all connections appear seamless through a single technology

Imagine purchasing a WiFi supported TV, a sprinkler system, a thermostat or even a washing machine and getting them on the same network used by your smartphone, tablet and computer. You can do that with WiFi.

One network to rule them all.

5.       With the increase in number of connected devices, security has increased by several levels

Our lives are getting more and more automated with the passage of time. Thus, it has become absolutely essential to practice safe connecting habits.

WiFi comes with industry standard security that customers can rely on with their eyes closed.

A WiFi network having WPA2 provides both privacy for communication and security at the same time. For maximum safety, it’s advisable for your network to include only those devices built with the latest security technology called WPA2 (WiFi Protected Access 2).

Almost all WiFi Certified devices implement WPA2.

6.       United States has stronger WiFi signals than Europe

That’s because the regulatory authorities in the United States allow transmission in higher power than that of Europe resulting in stronger signals.

7.       Wireless performance will drop if many wireless devices get on the connection

Wireless performances are sure to drop if a substantial number of devices get on it.

Many routers theoretically announce that they can support more than 255 devices at a stretch but in reality, if 255 devices get on it at the same time, the internet connection will barely stay usable at that point.

The major culprit is bandwidth which varies greatly depending on the type of your router.

Another point that you should remember is that if there are a number of WiFI networks around you, your connection is bound to slow down as multiple signals result in interference disrupting the clarity of your signal.

8.       Microwaves affect WiFi networks

Microwave ovens emit a huge amount of energy when they are in use. This can interfere with your WiFi signal.

Microwave ovens emit about 1000W of energy which is almost 10,000 times more than your WiFi signal. If it comes in contact with your network, it’s definitely going to result in a significant disruption of your WiFi connectivity.

via techsling

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Telus has fastest network speed among Canada’s 'big three' providers: OpenSignal

Bell, Telus and Rogers all have fast download speeds, according to a new report, but Telus is slightly faster than its competition | Shutterstock

Canada’s big three wireless providers—Bell (TSX:BCE), Telus (TSX:T) and Rogers (TSX:RCI.B)—have strong mobile data speeds compared with those found in other countries around the world, but Telus’ download speed ekes out a slight advantage over its competitors.

According to a report released January by OpenSignal, a London-based firm that performs wireless coverage mapping, Telus’ average overall download speed was 24.1 Mbps, which was a hair faster than those of Bell (22.09 Mbps) and Rogers (21.25 Mbps).

OpenSignals pointed out that Telus and Bell share an extensive network that includes shared towers, radio access infrastructure and spectrum, but the difference in overall speed between the two providers is not surprising.

“We wouldn’t expect their results to be exactly the same,” the report said. “Both Telus and Bell are traditionally stronger in different regions of the country and in some cases have gone after different subscriber segments.

“ Also, Bell and Telus may share the radio network, but they maintain different network cores, which can lead to subtle differences in performance, particularly in the final metric we cover: latency.”

OpenSignal said Telus was the clear winner for latency, which measures data connection responsiveness.

Two of the wireless providers were tied in terms of 4G availability, which measures the proportion of time users had access to an LTE connection.

“Rogers and Telus shared the award for best availability as OpenSignal testers were able to latch on to their LTE networks just over 80% of the time, but Bell was an extremely close third with a 4G availability score of 78.3%,” the report showed.

OpenSignal compiled the report from looking at a total of 15,272 Canadian users and more than 289 million datapoints.

via BIV

How much cellular and Wi-Fi data are smartphone users consuming, and with which apps?

The Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile and Sprint Q4 2016 breakdown

It’s clear that, thanks to unlimited data offers and the falling cost of the GB, wireless customers can now access more content on their phones at faster speeds than ever before. But what exactly are they doing on their phones, how much data are they chewing through, and which networks are they using to do it?

And perhaps most importantly, how does that break down across the customers of Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile and Sprint?

A new partnership between FierceWireless and P3 (and P3’s partner Strategy Analytics) aims to answer those questions. P3 is a global consulting, management and engineering services company, and it collects data on U.S. wireless usage via more than 2,300 participating smartphone users, with nearly 11 million samples from throughout the United States. And thanks to P3’s new deal with research and consulting firm Strategy Analytics, P3’s data has been merged with the demographic and psychographic information collected by Strategy Analytics' AppOptix, a real-time mobile consumer tracking and intelligence platform.

The below information was obtained during the fourth quarter, between September and December 2016. To check out P3 data from earlier in 2016, click here.

For more information on P3, click here, and for information on Strategy Analytics, click here. And click here to check out P3's app.

Analysis from P3: The chart shows the average number of app sessions per user per day, total data volume per smartphone user per day, and average smartphone app usage time per user per day.

The frequency of app usage on cellular increased in the fourth quarter of 2016 at the expense of less frequent app usage on Wi-Fi. Users on all networks but Verizon used apps significantly more often on cellular than on Wi-Fi. This is especially true for Sprint users, who show a massive shift in app sessions to cellular from Wi-Fi. This may be attributed to the introduction of Sprint’s unlimited data plans, which also may be the reason for the significant increase in both usage time and data volume per user per day on cellular.

Analysis from P3: The chart shows the percentage of time smartphone users use any app on Wi-Fi over the last three months of 2016. While earlier in 2016 the time-based Wi-Fi share across the four carriers showed a decline over time, this trend did not continue and, in particular, the Wi-Fi share for T-Mobile users increased to an all-year high, though still showing the lowest share among all carriers. Verizon users continue to rely on Wi-Fi for over half of their app usage time.

Analysis from P3: The charts show the most-used smartphone apps for customers of the four national U.S. carriers ordered by transmitted data volume and by the time users spent with the apps on both mobile and Wi-Fi.

Facebook clearly dominates app usage stats for usage time regardless of connection type.

The increased app usage by Sprint users on cellular manifests in more time spent browsing and significantly more time and data on Netflix, which now is one of the top 10 apps Sprint customers use over cellular.

Analysis from P3: The chart shows the amount of cellular and Wi-Fi data used by customers in different age groups. The results combine P3's passive data collection with the opt-in panel data generated by Strategy Analytics' mobile intelligence platform. Across all four carriers, younger customers use more cellular data. Wi-Fi data usage among the 25 and under age group is especially high compared with older age groups.