Talk:Wi-Fi

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Computing: Networking High‑importance

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Technology

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Telecommunications Mid‑importance

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Contradiction On Etymology

This article claims Wi-Fi is "short for wireless fidelity", however the List of common false etymologies of English words claims "Wi-Fi is not short-form for 'Wireless Fidelity.'".

I'm unable to determine which claim is right. While the "not short for" side has a source, the source is weak at best, failing to explain where the name does come from and instead saying it can't be "wireless fidelity" because " trademarked phrase that refers to IEEE 802.11x standards" (both could be true). More research required. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2600:6C60:7006:300:8426:308F:D4DC:8902 (talk) 21:53, 30 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]

Wi-Fi is a new term. Like the word "smog", it was formed from two other words. (smog is from smoke and fog). But "smog" is an established word on its own. People say smog instead of "smoke and fog". Wi-Fi is an official, established term. The idea came from Wireless Fidelity, but it would be weird and incorrect to say that you're connecting to your Wireless Fidelity. It's actually called Wi-Fi. The term has the status of a word, with its own meaning, independent of how the term originated. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 92.35.69.114 (talk) 13:59, 2 January 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Both preceding comments are valid, but the first questions the back-and-forth nonsense of this article under Etymology while the reply is about current usage. Etymology is the study of word origins and the way in which their meanings have changed throughout history. There seems little doubt that the ORIGIN of Wi-Fi was as a short and catchy term mimicking the earlier "Hi-Fi" for High Fidelity which was still a popular term at the time. "WI-FI" is a registered wordmark separate from the logo, which is also registered. The trademark registration applications do not include any mention of any derivation for the term, however there are numerous other documents on file with the USPTO using the term wireless fidelity in the same context. Much more significantly there is the simple fact that the WI-FI Alliance used the term Wireless Fidelity to describe their product or service in ways that would clearly indicate they wanted to establish the similarity of Wi-Fi to Hi-Fi. As such, the claim that "The name Wi-Fi is not short-form for 'Wireless Fidelity'" based on a single non-contemporaneous source is hardly valid within the etymology. N4aof (talk) 17:13, 16 February 2024 (UTC)[reply]

@N4aof I agree and would encourage you to go ahead with an edit. Ccrrccrr (talk) 10:30, 2 June 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Wrong links??

"successfully complete interoperability certification testing" links to a specific section on eGovernment in the European Union... It might help to run back through the page and verify that a) all links work and b) all links are correct. Hyphendashhyphen (talk) 14:35, 12 December 2023 (UTC)[reply]

wifi, WiFi, wi-fi and Wi-Fi

Googling "wifi" can get Wi-Fi as being the only permissible usage (as per Wi-Fi Alliance), the Oxford Reference suggests WiFi, some orgs insist wi-fi – not 'wifi', 'WiFi' or 'Wi-fi' as here, Wiktionary permits all four.

It's fair to say that, in the language of "short speak", hyphens and capitalizations are an encumbrance, thus wifi will eventually replace the others. Lmstearn (talk) 20:52, 12 April 2024 (UTC)[reply]

We currently have citations in Wi-Fi#Etymology_and_terminology indicating that Wi-Fi is the original styling. That doesn't mean everyone has to go along with that though. If we want to discuss other spellings, we'll need some other source. The dictionary links you provide are a start but it would be best to find a reliable secondary source that discusses this whole landscape. ~Kvng (talk) 16:57, 15 April 2024 (UTC)[reply]