Editing Wireless LAN (section)

== History == 
[[Norman Abramson]], a professor at the [[University of Hawaii]], developed the world's first wireless computer communication network, [[ALOHAnet]]. The system became operational in 1971 and included seven computers deployed over four islands to communicate with the central computer on the [[Oahu]] island without using phone lines.<ref>{{cite web| title = History of Wireless| publisher = [[Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health]]| url = http://www.jhsph.edu/wireless/history.html | access-date = 2007-02-17 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070210131824/http://www.jhsph.edu/wireless/history.html |archive-date = 2007-02-10}}</ref>

[[File:WLAN PCI Card cleaned.png|thumb|54 Mbit/s WLAN PCI Card (802.11g)]]

Wireless LAN hardware initially cost so much that it was only used as an alternative to cabled LAN in places where cabling was difficult or impossible. Early development included industry-specific solutions and proprietary protocols, but at the end of the 1990s these were replaced by [[technical standard]]s, primarily the various versions of IEEE 802.11 (in products using the [[Wi-Fi]] brand name). 

Beginning in 1991, a European alternative known as HiperLAN/1 was pursued by the [[European Telecommunications Standards Institute]] (ETSI) with a first version approved in 1996. This was followed by a HiperLAN/2 functional specification with [[Asynchronous Transfer Mode|ATM]] influences{{citation needed|date=June 2015}} accomplished February 2000. Neither European standard achieved the commercial success of 802.11, although much of the work on HiperLAN/2 has survived in the physical specification ([[PHY]]) for IEEE [[802.11a]], which is nearly identical to the PHY of HiperLAN/2.

In 2009, [[802.11n]] was added to 802.11. It operates in both the 2.4&nbsp;GHz and 5&nbsp;GHz bands at a maximum data transfer rate of 600&nbsp;Mbit/s. Most newer routers are ''dual-band'' and able to utilize both wireless bands. This allows data communications to avoid the crowded [[2.4&nbsp;GHz radio use|2.4&nbsp;GHz band]], which is also shared with [[Bluetooth]] devices and [[microwave oven]]s. The 5&nbsp;GHz band also has more channels than the 2.4&nbsp;GHz band, permitting a greater number of devices to share the space. Not all [[WLAN channels]] are available in all regions.

A [[HomeRF]] group formed in 1997 to promote a technology aimed at residential use, but it disbanded in January 2003.<ref>{{cite web |title= HomeRF Archives |author= Wayne Caswell |date= November 17, 2010 |url= http://www.cazitech.com/HomeRF_Archives.htm |access-date= July 16, 2011 |archive-date= May 29, 2018 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20180529095623/http://www.cazitech.com/HomeRF_Archives.htm |url-status= live }}</ref>