Techno speak: What's it all mean?

WiFi -- Stands for wireless fidelty, a techno term that describes the ability to access the Internet or communicate electronically without being hooked up to cables or phone lines.

Hotspot -- Locations where mobile devices such as laptop computers can -- without being hooked up to cables -- catch a signal to get onto the Internet. Hotspots are found often in or near restaurants, cafes, airports, universities, libraries and other public places. Kankakee's first hotspot will be downtown from Chestnut to Water streets and from Washington to Indiana avenues.

802.11 -- The radio technology used for wireless local area networks. This standard was released in 1997. Though it was too slow for commecial use, it laid the foundation for the growing WiFi networks today. 802.11 has evolved into other forms, namely 802.11a and 802.11b, which are commonly used today.

Access Point -- This is a device that connects to a wired network and transmits and receives 802.11 signals. In other words, an access point is the interface between a laptop computer and a wired network, which often is connected to the Internet.

Source: WiFi Alliance, www.wi-fi.org