what is WI-FI

[edit] Origin and meaning of the term "Wi-Fi"
Despite the similarity between the terms "Wi-Fi" and "Hi-Fi", statements reportedly made by Phil Belanger of the Wi-Fi Alliance contradict the popular conclusion that "Wi-Fi" stands for "Wireless Fidelity".[12] According to Mr Belanger, the Interbrand Corporation developed the brand "Wi-Fi" for the Wi-Fi Alliance to use to describe WLAN products that are based on the IEEE 802.11 standards. In Mr Belanger's words, "Wi-Fi and the yin yang style logo were invented by Interbrand. We [the founding members of the Wireless Ethernet Compatibility Alliance, now called the Wi-Fi Alliance] hired Interbrand to come up with the name and logo that we could use for our interoperability seal and marketing efforts. We needed something that was a little catchier than 'IEEE 802.11b Direct Sequence'."
The Wi-Fi Alliance themselves invoked the term "Wireless Fidelity" with the marketing of a tag line, "The Standard for Wireless Fidelity", but later removed the tag from their marketing. The Wi-Fi Alliance now seems to discourage the propagation of the notion that "Wi-Fi" stands for "Wireless Fidelity", but it has been referred to as such by the Wi-Fi Alliance in White Papers currently held in their knowledge base: "... a promising market for wireless fidelity (Wi-Fi) network equipment." [13] and "A Short History of WLANs... The association created the Wi-Fi (Wireless Fidelity) logo to indicate that a product had been certified for interoperability."