Wi-Fi Foundations

Wi-Fi is something we all use and almost never think about, until it breaks or gets breached. In this episode, Jon Bundy and Adrian Sanabria go back to basics with a primer on the history and technical foundations of Wi-Fi. They trace its evolution from early 1990s origins through the role of the Wi-Fi Alliance in driving interoperability and branding. Jon and Adrian break down the difference between the 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands, walk through the progression of IEEE 802.11 standards from the original spec to Wi-Fi 7, and cover the critical evolution of security protocols from WEP to WPA, WPA2, and WPA3. Along the way, they get into the technical details that matter: frequency hopping, multi-link operation, and the three types of Wi-Fi frames (management, control, and data). This episode sets the stage for what's next: specific Wi-Fi exploits and just how safe (or unsafe) public networks really are.