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A Wi-Fi Primer for Amateur Radio Operators
Wi-Fi -- A digital mode of particular interest is "Wi-Fi," also known as "Wireless Fidelity."
i Wi-Fi refers to the wireless network use of the "802.11" protocols (numbered 802.11 by the IEEE
in 1996) in the unlicensed 2.4 and 5 GHz radio bands. "802.11a" refers to a data rate of 54 Mbps, "802.11b"
refers to a data rate of 11 Mbps, and "802.11g" refers to data rates in excess of 20 Mbps.
ii Both laptop computers and PDAs can be "Wi-Fi enabled," meaning that they can send and receive
data wirelessly from a "Wi-Fi Access Point," or "hotspot," with an average range of ±300
feet.
iii The Wi-Fi 802.11 protocols operate within the Amateur Radio bands, and a qualified Amateur operator or
the OES System can establish a high-power hotspot, enabling Wi-Fi equipped laptop computers and PDAs within a large
area.
iiii After "lighting-up" Wi-Fi within a disaster area, the OES System can link the Wi-Fi data by
digital radio to another OES outside the disaster area who still has internet access. The internet-equipped OES
can link the radio-transmitted Wi-Fi data to the internet, thus restoring internet access to the disaster area
even in the absence of power, telephone, and cellphone service.
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