Wi-Fi vs Wireless: What's the Difference?

Wi-Fi and wireless are two terms that are often used interchangeably, but they are not exactly the same.

Wi-Fi is a type of wireless technology that allows devices to connect to a local area network (LAN) without wires. Wireless, on the other hand, is a broader term that refers to any communication that uses radio waves, such as cellular, Bluetooth, and LiFi.

Wi-Fi is a specific wireless technology that operates in the 2.4 GHz or 5 GHz frequency bands and follows the IEEE 802.11 standards. Wi-Fi enables devices to access the internet or share data with other devices on the same network. Wi-Fi routers or gateways create a Wi-Fi network by broadcasting a signal that devices can detect and join.

Wireless is a more general term that encompasses any communication that does not require physical cables or wires. Wireless can include different types of technologies, such as cellular, Bluetooth, LiFi, and Wi-Fi. Wireless can also refer to different types of networks, such as wireless LANs, wireless WANs, wireless personal area networks (WPANs), and wireless metropolitan area networks (WMANs).

One way to think about the difference between Wi-Fi and wireless is that Wi-Fi is a subset of wireless. Wi-Fi is one of the many ways to achieve wireless communication, but not all wireless communication is Wi-Fi. For example, you can use your smartphone to make a call using cellular technology, which is wireless but not Wi-Fi. You can also use your smartphone to connect to a Wi-Fi network and browse the web, which is both wireless and Wi-Fi.