Full History of Wi-Fi Technology: Inventor, Year, Father of Wi-Fi

The history of Wi-Fi dates back to 1985 under the rule of US Federal Communication. The commission released several bands of the radio spectrum with different frequency levels for use by all. 

Various technology firms and businesses started building wireless network systems to deploy the newly available radio spectrums for operational efficiency. But due to the absence of a common wireless standard, the networks remained fragmented due to poor compatibility amongst each other.  

So, eventually, a committee of industry leaders formulated a common standard known as 802.11. It received approval from the IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) in the year 1997. 

Followed by this, a few years later, a group of major companies established the Wireless Ethernet Compatibility Alliance (WECA), which is now known as the Wi-Fi Alliance. WECA named the new wireless technology- Wi-Fi.

Some common questions about this technology are who invented Wi-Fi, when was Wi-Fi invented, and how was Wi-Fi invented. In this Wi-Fi tutorial for beginners, we have answered all these questions.

The name Wi-Fi was coined years back by the brand-consulting firm “Interbrand.” Vic Hayes is regarded to be the “father of Wi-Fi.” 

In 1991, NCR Corporation with AT&T Corporation invented the precursor to 802.11 (original version). This was intended to be used in cashier systems. The initial wireless products were named WaveLAN and are provided with the credits for inventing Wi-Fi.

The Australian radio-astronomer John O’Sullivan with his co-workers Terence Percival, Graham Daniels, Diet Ostry, John Deane, formulated a significant element. That element is used as a by-product in Wi-Fi of a Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO) research project. 

However, this did not bear any fruitful results. Years later, The first version of the 802.11 protocol was released in 1997. It provided up to 2 Mbit/s link speed followed by further updates in speed and working protocols.