What Does Wi-Fi Stand For?

Is Wi-Fi Short for Wireless Fidelity?

One day while chatting with a client, I casually asked, “What does Wi-Fi stand for?” The client, an American, was taken aback and said he wasn’t sure, but guessed it should be wireless fidelity, similar to hi-fi. I felt ashamed and lowered my head; as a designer who talks about hi-fi, lo-fi, and prototyping all day, how could I not think of it as wireless fidelity? But after some reflection, I started to question (the client): is Wi-Fi really short for wireless fidelity?

If you check the information, most sources mention that Wi-Fi is wireless fidelity. However, upon closer examination, it’s still unclear; high fidelity and low fidelity can be explained, but what does wireless fidelity mean?

The Origin of Wi-Fi

In 1999, the Wi-Fi Alliance was established, but back then it was not called the Wi-Fi Alliance; it was known as the Wireless Ethernet Compatibility Alliance, as the term Wi-Fi had not yet been invented. The background at that time was that IEEE defined a series of wireless network communication standards, the 802.11 series we commonly see, but did not specify how to test whether products met the standards, leading to frequent interoperability issues among 802.11 products. The establishment of the alliance was to fill this gap. The alliance also took it upon themselves to promote wireless network technology that conforms to the 802.11 standards, so they felt the need for a catchy name to replace the cumbersome technical terms (uh… what? 802.11b direct sequence spread spectrum? What is that…). This way, the concept could spread more effectively among the public.

At this time, one of the founders of the alliance, Phil Belanger, suggested seeking the help of the branding consultancy Interbrand to assist with the naming process. Indeed, Interbrand came up with the now-famous name Wi-Fi. According to a blog post published by Interbrand, they did reference the term hi-fi, but they only wanted to borrow hi-fi’s high recognition and easy-to-remember pronunciation, not as widely believed, first thinking of wireless fidelity and then shortening it to Wi-Fi.

Interbrand submitted thirteen proposals, and the winning one (which we all know the outcome of, so it was no surprise) was Wi-Fi. The Wireless Ethernet Compatibility Alliance was thus renamed the Wi-Fi Alliance.

The Origin of Wireless Fidelity

The next question arises: since it is so widely circulated, there must be some reason for the existence of wireless fidelity. So who is to blame? Is it some irresponsible tech media? Or a careless joke during a speech? Wrong, the culprit is the Wi-Fi Alliance itself. This is something they regret immensely.

When it comes to wireless fidelity, Interbrand would wear an innocent expression, saying, “It’s not my fault; I don’t know anything about it.” Indeed, wireless fidelity was never mentioned in Interbrand’s proposal. However, after finalizing the name Wi-Fi, some old scholars in the Wi-Fi Alliance could not understand what branding and marketing meant, and could not accept a made-up word without any meaning or full name. After some compromise, the Wi-Fi Alliance had to add a slogan when promoting Wi-Fi: “Standards for Wireless Fidelity.” Phil Belanger himself explained this in an article on Boing Boing.

However, this slogan is filled with errors. First, Wi-Fi has never been a standard; the Wi-Fi Alliance does not set standards and does not compete with IEEE. Secondly, wireless fidelity was just two words randomly put together starting with wi and fi, with no meaning, only causing misunderstandings.

In the spring and summer of 2000, the term Wi-Fi was launched, accompanied by that erroneous slogan. But soon the Wi-Fi Alliance realized this mistake and decided to remove all slogans by the end of 2000. They thought this would remedy the error and stop the continued circulation of the term wireless fidelity, but due to the rapid spread of the Wi-Fi concept, wireless fidelity also spread as Wi-Fi’s “full name.” Nowadays, even some industry insiders use wireless fidelity to explain Wi-Fi in official documents.

As for the documentation regarding wireless fidelity, it is said that there are only two articles on the Wi-Fi Alliance’s official website, preserved to remember that regrettable time, essentially equivalent to “keeping a photo from the time of the worst hairstyle.”

As for how to deal with the term wireless fidelity in the future, there is no need to violently eliminate it, but Phil Belanger still hopes everyone can help forget that incorrect slogan and only remember this beautiful name—Wi-Fi.