Wi-Fi has without doubt been one of the most disruptive technologies of the past decade. Since the formation of the Wi-Fi Alliance in 1999, wireless has gone on to become one of the most ubiquitous technologies of the 21st century.

Wireless routers are now the de facto standard in home broadband deployments and with more than 670 million broadband subscribers globally, the level of penetration is already substantial.

It is not just in the home that Wi-Fi has become commonplace. In 1998, T-Mobile bought PLANCOM (Public Local Area Network COMmunications) and in 2001 launched the first T-Mobile Hotspot. Since then, the term ‘hotspot’ has become popular vernacular for public accessible wireless networks and they are available in bars, restaurants, hotels, airports, shopping complexes and sports stadiums the world over.

It is so entwined with the social fabric of modern living that it can be difficult to imagine it evolving into more than it already is; but technology never sits still and the truth is that Wi-Fi is only at the beginning of its journey.

Improvements in performance

In the final days of 2013 the 802.11ac standardisation project was completed and the new specification was formally ratified. Replacing 802.11n, the new standard is the first to bring gigabit speeds to wireless thanks to the use of more antennas, wider channels, beam forming technology and a better signal-to-noise ratio.

While it will take some time for legacy devices to filter out of the ecosystem, the new standard promises speeds well beyond that of its predecessor. 802.11ac has a theoretical maximum speed of 1.3Gbps. While real-world speeds will be nothing close to this, moving forward, Wi-Fi will no longer prove to be a bottleneck for many of the more intensive tasks.

There are also other standards that are – in a sense – competing with traditional Wi-Fi. WiGig (802.11ad) operates in the 60GHZ range and can achieve a blistering 7Gbps. WiGig is only effective over very short ranges and therefore will not pose a direct threat to Wi-Fi; but the technology is likely to prove successful in scenarios where large amounts of data need to be transferred over short distances.

A changing role

For the past decade, Wi-Fi’s defining feature has been one of convenience. For the home user, it allows one to connect devices without the need for wires. It has given coffee drinkers access to a high-speed networks while sipping lattes.

However, Wi-Fi’s role is rapidly evolving. In the United Kingdom, the broadcasting regulator, Ofcom, has already laid out its vision for the future of Wi-Fi. With the help of Microsoft, BT, Google and many other organisations, trials are already underway to bring high-speed broadband to rural areas of the country, decrease traffic congestion and monitor patient health remotely.

This is only the tip of the iceberg. There is much talk of the ‘Internet of Everything’; a concept which extends from the world of machine-to-machine (M2M) technology. Within the next six years, it is estimated that there will be upwards of 24 billion internet enabled devices on the planet – equivalent to three devices for every woman, man and child on the planet.

These will not simply be smartphones, tablets and laptops, but cars, home appliances, cash registers, surveillance systems, electricity meters, machinery, engines and so much more. Wi-Fi will play a crucial role in the Internet of Things.

Cellular data

Mobile data usage has exploded over the past ten years. Mobile data usage doubled in 2012 and doubled again in 2013. This avalanche of data usage has forced service providers to address how they manage their traffic. Wi-Fi has become an essential component of traffic management strategies, allowing service providers to offload significant amounts of data to WLAN networks.

However, Wi-Fi offload is only the beginning of this story; the next chapter promises to fundamentally redefine the relationship between Wi-Fi and cellular data.

The Wireless Broadband Alliance, along with key industry partners around the world, is working on the Next Generation Hotspot programme and Carrier Wi-Fi guidelines, which will allow mobile devices to pass seamlessly between cellular data networks and Wi-Fi hotspots without any need for user interaction. This technology will essentially take two disparate networks and unify them into one cohesive ecosystem, where devices move around freely.

The heart of revolution

Modern society is in the midst of yet another technological revolution. Global mobile data traffic is set to increase a further 13-fold by 2017. Mobile data speeds will increase a further seven-fold in the same time. The Internet of Everything will take centre stage in the coming years, changing entire industries – from manufacturing and automotive to healthcare and home automation. At the heart of this revolution will be a technology that society had come to know and love – Wi-Fi.