Wi-Fi is 20 years old – Here's 20 milestones in Wi-Fi's history

In 1999 several technology companies formed the Wireless Ethernet Compatibility Alliance (WECA). On 30^th September 1999, the 802.11b wireless LAN standard became available in commercial products. This moment is considered as the beginning of wireless networks known today as Wi-Fi. As time went by, new generations of wireless networks emerged. To celebrate the 20^th anniversary of the inception of Wi-Fi, Cisco outlines 20 significant dates and facts related to the evolution of Wi-Fi technology and its impact.

1971: Early beginnings of Wi-Fi: A network system called ALOHAnet is created at the University of Hawaii, which lays the foundation for further development of wireless communication and later also the emergence of Wi-Fi networks.

1997: 802.11 arrives: The first version of the 802.11 standard is introduced, allowing speeds of up to 2Mbps.

1999: WECA is born: Half a dozen technology companies, including Aironet, which was later acquired by Cisco, form the Wireless Ethernet Compatibility Alliance (WECA). In 2002 WECA changed its name to Wi-Fi Alliance.

1999: 802.11b – first ‘Wi-Fi’ standard: Announcement of the 802.11b standard, the first standard to emerge under the name ‘Wi-Fi’. Superior in speed and usability to 802.11, the release of 802.11b is considered by many to mark the true beginning of the Wi-Fi revolution.

1999/2000: First commercial 802.11b devices start to appear: ‘Wi-Fi’ is designed-in and starts to appear in commercial devices, including popular laptops. From then on, your computer could travel with you. Wi-Fi starts to gain significant commercial traction.

2002: Cisco pushes the industry forward: The Cisco Compatible eXtensions free license program is launched, allowing Wi-Fi products offered by other vendors to work with Cisco wireless networks while maintaining a high level of security.

2004: Wi-Fi reaches for the sky: First commercial flight offering passengers Wi-Fi access.

2005: Wi-Fi becomes the latest word: “Wi-Fi” is added to the Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary.

2009: 802.11n revolutionizes the industry: The new 802.11n (Wi-Fi 4) standard is introduced. 802.11n allowed transmission speeds to be increased with MIMO technology, which allowed more antennas to create more data streams. The maximum transfer rate multiplied almost nine times (54 Mbps vs. 450 Mbps).

2010: A new wave of Cisco innovations: Cisco CleanAir technology is introduced in the Aironet 3500 Access Point series, allowing automatic identification of interference and directing users to other, less crowded, channels.

2011: Hotspots are a hot trend: Number of Wi-Fi hotspots exceeds one million globally.

2012: Wi-Fi in the home: A quarter of all households in the world are connected to Wi-Fi.

2013: 802.11ac brings even greater speeds: 11ac standard is introduced, reaching over 1 Gbps.

2015: Wi-Fi a part of life: An IDC study finds that Wi-Fi is the second most important thing people do not want to live without. 18% of respondents even ranked it first. Only food with 30% was placed above. For example, sex (10%), television (8%) and alcohol (4%) were behind Wi-Fi.

2018: Wi-Fi as a major economic driver: Global economic value of Wi-Fi technology reaches $2 trillion.

2018: 13 billion Wi-Fi devices: Penetration reaches about 13 billion Wi-Fi devices worldwide. This means almost two Wi‑Fi devices per person on the planet.

2019: Wi-Fi 6 arrives: Wi-Fi 6 is introduced, reaching speeds of up to 5 Gbps. Technology is built on the same foundation as 5G networks, with the two technologies considered complementary. Wi-Fi 6 is also easier on connected devices’ batteries and provides an overall more predictable user experience. Cisco announces the Cisco OpenRoaming project, aimed to make it easier to seamlessly and securely hop between Wi-Fi and LTE networks and onboard public Wi-Fi.

2021: Further growth predicted in hotspots: According to Cisco estimates, the number of global hotspots will exceed 500 million. This will be 500 times more than ten years before.

2022: Average speeds continue to grow: It is predicted that by this year the average global Wi-Fi connection speed will be 54.2 Mbps, compared to 24.4 Mbps in 2017.

2022: Wi-Fi will be the driver of the Future Internet: By this point, Wi-Fi will be the dominant source of Internet access. Cisco’s VNI study predicts that up to 59% of Internet traffic will flow through it.

“Today Wi-Fi is one of the fastest growing networking technologies. As a result, the Internet is now available in a much wider variety of places, often where it was previously impractical, offering a new level of mobility, convenience and productivity. Wi-Fi networks have transformed the way we live, work, learn and play. Whether you use Wi-Fi to connect to social networks, watch videos, play, work, or digitize your business, the new generation of Wi-Fi 6, alongside 5G networks, will open up a whole world of new opportunities,” says Ivan Duggan, Director, Enterprise Networks & Infrastructure, EMEAR, at Cisco.