Wi-Fi Alliance（ワイファイ アライアンス）とは、無線LAN製品の普及促進を図ることを目的とした業界団体である。主に相互接続性試験方法の策定、製品の認証、およびWi-Fiブランドの普及に向けたプロモーション活動を実施する。2011年11月現在で 参画企業数はおよそ500社。PC・ネットワーク関連企業のみならず、近年では家電、通信、ゲーム業界 からの参画も多い。
本拠地はアメリカ合衆国テキサス州オースティン。
In 1971, ALOHAnet connected the Great Hawaiian Islands with a UHF wireless packet network. ALOHAnet and the ALOHA protocol were early forerunners to Ethernet, and later the IEEE 802.11 protocols, respectively.
A 1985 ruling by the U.S. Federal Communications Commission released the ISM band for unlicensed use.[4] These frequency bands are the same ones used by equipment such as microwave ovens and are subject to interference.
In 1991, NCR Corporation with AT&T Corporation invented the precursor to 802.11, intended for use in cashier systems, under the name WaveLAN.
The first version of the 802.11 protocol was released in 1997, and provided up to 2 Mbit/s link speeds.
This was updated in 1999 with 802.11b to permit 11 Mbit/s link speeds, and this proved popular.
In 1999, the Wi-Fi Alliance formed as a trade association to hold the Wi-Fi trademark under which most products are sold.[11]