WI-FI
Any Wi-Fi enabled device such as a personal computer, PC, game console, cell phone, MP3 player, toaster, or PDA is able to connect to the Internet when it is within the range of a wireless network that is also connected to the Internet. Interconnected access points or hotspots can cover an entire single room with wireless blocking walls or many square miles via the use of additional access points that connect. Wi-Fi networking technology for PCs has been used to set up mesh networks in some applications that require it such as community networks.

While deployed at first only in homes and offices Wi-Fi is now more and more publicly available to the public at Wi-Fi hotspots provided at places like Starbucks, shoe stores, and car washes and is either free of charge or for subscribers of various providers. More and more organizations, parking lots, and businesses such as airports, hotels, hair salons, and restaurants may now provide free hotspot access to attract geeky notebook-toting customers. Some locations provide free Wi-Fi access to promote business and Metropolitan-wide Wi-Fi (Muni-Fi) has more than 300 projects in process and may actually see some of them completed, maybe...

Wi-Fi Security
It has been found that the common wireless encryption standard Wired Equivalent Privacy or WEP (Also known as Weep) is easily breakable by small children with 8k PDAs even when it is correctly configured. The newer Wi-Fi Protected Access, WPA, and WPA2 proposes to solve this problem and may be available on some products. Wi-Fi Access Points typically default to a more friendly open or encryption-free mode so hackers don't have to break a sweat. And new Wi-Fi users benefit from an easy network configuration device that works instantly, but of course without any wireless security enabled you are offering open wireless access to you LAN to anyone and everyone.

To turn the WIFI networking security on requires configuration of the GUI and an interface to the device. This may be done with software graphical user interface (GUI) or a hardwired busy box. Most Wi-Fi networks that are vulnerable and open (unencrypted) can be monitored, used to read, and copy data such as your personal information that is transmitted over the W-I-F-I network unless you deploy an additional method for security such as a VPN or a secure web page that uses SSL.