Wireless

Wireless is an old-fashioned term for a radio transceiver (a mixed receiver and transmitter device), referring to its use in wireless telegraphy early on, or for a radio receiver. Now the term is used to describe modern wireless connections such as those in cellular networks and wireless broadband Internet.

In modern usage, wireless is a method of communication that uses low-powered radio waves to transmit data between devices. The term refers to communication without cables or cords, chiefly using radio frequency and infrared waves. Common uses include the various communications defined by the IrDA, the wireless networking of computers and cellular mobile phones.

High powered transmission sources usually require government licenses to broadcast on a specific wavelength. This broadcast platform which has historically carried voice and music, has grown into a large industry, with many thousands of broadcasts around the world.

Low-powered radio waves, such as those used in networking to transmit data between devices, are often unregulated. Wireless is now increasingly being used by unregulated computer users. Optimal bandwidth routing within wireless networks requires the calculation in real-time of the best way to direct traffic.

Software and hardware developers are creating smaller computer networks which form ad-hoc wireless network, with protocols such as WiFi and ZigBee. The IEEE 802.11 standard is for wireless, Ethernet-like LANs. The insecurities in this protocol have popularized the concept of war driving.

Wireless standards