“Excuse me, can you give me the Wi-Fi password?”

If you’ve never asked or been asked this question, it’s because you’re literally living disconnected. But just in case, let’s start from the beginning.

Wi-Fi, WiFi or shortly Wi-Fi, is a wireless connection system that was introduced in 1997 and is used to access the internet between electronic devices and within a certain area.

The word comes from the Wi-Fi Alliance organization, but it has become so widespread that it has even become part of the Royal Spanish Academy Dictionary.

And no, that doesn’t mean anything, as Phil Belanger, one of the company’s founding members, explains. It is the result of a marketing strategy.

It is worth noting that Wi-Fi is based on IEEE 802.11 standards, a family of wireless standards created by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, a worldwide association of engineers dedicated to standardization and development in technical fields.

And for almost 25 years, Wi-Fi, with its constant updates, has had a profound impact on the way societies connect.

“The biggest impact of Wi-Fi is fair internet access. Imagine if the world had evolved with cell phones or satellite only, only the wealthy could afford,” explains Sujit Dey, director of the Center for Wireless Communications at the University of San Diego (USD), California, (USA).

Wifi is accessible as it is based on unlicensed spectrum.

“This means that no one checks, which of course also means that the quality of service is sometimes low. However, as it’s untethered spectrum, the Wi-Fi portion is free as long as you have cable networks. This democratizes access. Without Wi-Fi, millions of people would not have internet access at all”, analyzes Professor Dey.

But Wi-Fi also makes an economic impact.

“A few billion dollars a year. It’s a phenomenal impact. I find it hard to underestimate the impact of connectivity on people,” Dorothy Stanley, member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE SA) Standards Association, told BBC Mundo.

According to estimates by the Wi-Fi Alliance, there will be approximately 18 billion Wi-Fi-enabled devices in use by 2022.

The global economic value of Wi-Fi is estimated at US$3.3 trillion in 2021, while it is expected to be US$4.9 trillion by 2025, according to a Telecom advisory study.

Wi-Fi has also made its users energetic demanders of a more efficient, reliable and secure connection than complex connectivity systems and the Internet of Things (IoT), in hybrid or remote work scenarios, at home and in companies.

In an increasingly connected world, we ask ourselves the question: What will come after Wi-Fi for Internet access?

Access to mesh networks

It is important to clarify that despite the rapid penetration of Wi-Fi into the developed world over the past two decades, there are still many corners of the planet where this technology is not available and there is no Internet access.

For example, according to a study conducted in 2021 by the Inter-American Institute for Agricultural Cooperation (IICA), the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation, it is estimated that 244 million people do not have access to the internet in Latin America, which is one-third of the population. Development Bank (IDB) and Microsoft.

However, connectivity has become a priority need after the covid-19 pandemic, and many technological advances have emerged by governments and organizations to bring connectivity to remote areas.

“Wifi isn’t the complete solution out there, but it’s an essential part of the overall solution,” says Dorothy Stanley, head of the IEEE 802.11 standards task force.

The expert lists examples in remote regions of India and Canada where hybrid connectivity systems with satellite, fiber optic and wireless are implemented.

“If we talk about the connectivity of the future, I think the short answer is getting better and more penetrating to cover areas not covered today,” the expert analyzes, highlighting the efforts of Mexico City officials in 2021. With 21,500 free internet points, the world’s most connected city took the Guinness World Record.

Wi-Fi for a while?

Since the introduction of WiFi, standards have continually evolved, often increasing speed, adding new features or technologies, and adding a new descriptive name.

802.11ax or Wi-Fi 6 is the latest development released in 2021. It offers 9.6 gigabits per second (Gbps) ultra-fast speed and supports 2.4 gigahertz (GHz), 5 GHz and 6 GHz frequency bands and wide channels (80, 160 MHz), among other features.

But it is not widely available in the market yet.

According to a task force report in June 2022, engineers are working on 802.11be or Wi-Fi 7 by 2024 with advanced features that promise to be a “major milestone”.

Everything indicates that Wi-Fi has no limits.

“We haven’t found it yet, and the projection is that the demand for Wi-Fi resources will increase tenfold over the next 10 years, so we see Wi-Fi usage increasing,” says Stanley.

“I think we’re going to see more Wi-Fi. “Our goal is to focus on greater range, performance and backward compatibility because we want people to use all the devices they buy and invest in,” he adds.

Improvements in Wi-Fi not only increase speed, but also allow many devices to connect at the same time and maintain that speed.

“More and more people want to use multiple device types. Not just phone, watch, glasses etc. There will be more and more connected devices. So the Wi-Fi is constantly being updated,” Professor Dey told BBC Mundo.

Alternatives to Wi-Fi

While Wi-Fi still has a lot of room to grow and is the most stable technology for connectivity, there are some connectivity alternatives that could complement or perhaps replace it in the future.

“5G reaches most European countries, the US and Latin America. The problem is that most 5G deployments rely on 4G. So it will take several years to have a real 5G implementation,” says Sujit Dey.

According to a study by Ericsson, by the end of 2026, 5G is expected to account for around 43% of mobile subscriptions in Latin America.

However, the costs are usually higher.

“Many people with different demographics can’t afford the 5G plan, so Wi-Fi is still the cheapest alternative. But of course you can’t take Wi-Fi out of the house, so 5G plans should be something everyone can afford,” says the USD professor.

There is also the possibility of data transmission via light.

University of Edinburgh Professor of Mobile Communications Harald Haas coined the term Li-Fi in 2011, a technology that uses LED lights to transmit data.

The disadvantage of traditional Wi-Fi routers is that multiple devices in the same area can interfere with each other.

But its creator says Li-Fi can use multiple lights in a room without interference.

Li-Fi can deliver speeds up to 1 gigabit per second (Gbps), providing internet access 100 times faster than traditional Wi-Fi.

And it requires a light source such as a standard LED lamp, internet connection and photodetector.

For Professor Dey, this type of technology is very effective for interiors, but is not a cheap alternative as it requires additional infrastructure costs.

“Imagine an office where you have to place the right reflectors. It has some advantages in terms of speed and connection level, but there are also disadvantages such as the need for a new infrastructure in general.”

There is also a connection via satellites.

Companies like billionaire Elon Musk’s Starlink offer high-speed broadband satellite internet service in remote and rural locations for a $110 plan that costs a one-time $599 hardware device.

“Starlink is an innovative addition to our connectivity portfolio. I think it has the potential to increase existing satellite deployment and make this technology perhaps more affordable and widespread,” says Stanley.

However, the latency of satellite communication is high, which means the latency is more than wifi or cell phone.

“To mitigate this problem, some companies have lower orbiting satellites and less latency issues. Now they want to integrate satellite and Wi-Fi as well,” says Dey.

“If this integration happens successfully in the next few years, there won’t be just a few people who can do things remotely. More people will be able to do this because there will be Wi-Fi connectivity,” he analyzes.

Professor Dey also highlights some of the companies that are testing drones to offer connectivity alongside Google’s balloon project.

“I think the best connection will be by air, because the cost of infrastructure is much lower,” he warns.

“You can access areas where fiber optics are not available, especially in less developed countries that have a desire to become more developed,” he says.

Connectivity of the future

It is clear that there are multiple technologies currently being tested and that will be used to establish connectivity in the future.

“There is no all-encompassing technology. There is so much demand for connectivity that in order to connect, we need to take all the parts, assemble the products and bring them to market to meet the needs of people everywhere,” says Stanley.

“Our vision for the future is that everyone is connected,” he bets.

According to Professor Dey, the connectivity landscape will change completely over the next 10 to 20 years, so “connection should be a birthright in this entry into the modern era.”

“Because without connection we can’t do anything constructive,” he concludes.