Are RF and Wifi the same?

[AJCButler]

I just have a quick question.
I have recently bought a barcode scanner which is wifi enabled.
My boss has said he would sooner have RF, but when I rang the supplier about this, they said that they are the same thing. RF is just another term for wifi, but my boss said this is not true.

Does anyone know which is correct?

Regards
AJ

 

[Me__2001]

wifi is a radio frequency which afaik is what RF stands for. the problems come from the different frequencies that are used by wireless devices

 

[floppybootstomp]

WiFi means wireless, which means communication by RF, or Radio Frequency.

WiFi is a registered name for RF communication, mostly between computers, since 1997.

So yes, in my opinion they're one and the same, only copyright lawyers will tell you different

 

[AJCButler]

So if it says that my Barcode Handset is Wifi, does this also mean it is RF?

 

[muckshifter]

So if it says that my Barcode Handset is Wifi, does this also mean it is RF?

No ...

There is a little confusion here ...

Wi-Fi Alliance is a consortium of separate and independent companies agreeing to a set of common interoperable products based on the family of IEEE 802.11 standards.

... Wi-Fi is a name "invented" for the IEEE802.11 Std., ... its purpose is to allow a "Wi-Fi" devices to connect to the Internet ... Wi-Fi sounds better than calling it IEEE802.11, dont it.

My RF keyboard cannot connect to the Internet ... I ain't seen a WiFi keyboard but I see loads of "wireless" keyboards.

Both "technologies" use radio frequencies ...

 

[floppybootstomp]

Now hang on a mo here

Wi-Fi, as I mentioned above, is a standard. A standard protected by lawyers.

Wi-Fi operates on a radio frequency - RF for short.

'RF' is not a standard, it's just a common term used to describe radio frequencies.

So, I suppose there may be some confusion here. If we're going to talk 'how does wifi operate' then yes, wifi and rf are the same things.

If we're going to talk 'can I label this device wifi and rf the answer may be yes..... and no'

Cos like I said, 'wifi' is a legally protected standard that just happens to use radio frequencies.

Wait, hang on..... I'm confusing myself

Answer any clearer now?

No?

Oh well, who gives a flying one anyway?

 

[Arkitekt]

Well, obviously someone cares, or the question wouldn’t have been asked and there wouldn’t be lawyers involved. Try this on: All WiFi uses RF, but all RF is not WiFi. In other words, WiFi is a Subset of RF. They both use radio frequencies to transmit wirelessly, but WiFi uses only a few of these frequencies as limited by one of the parts of the 802.11 family of IEEE standards mentioned above. RF communication may use any or all radio frequencies.

So your boss is both right and wrong. With WiFi he is getting an RF system. If he wants a system billed as “RF” but that does not carry the WiFi moniker, then it is not compliant with the WiFi part of the 802.11 standard. It may comply with some other standard, though. In order to be completely right, he needs to be more specific about what kind RF system he wants.
I suspect that he has been advised by someone he trusts that RF is better than WiFi, and he is parroting that advice. Maybe they knew what they meant, and it might even be good advice. But if all they said is “RF is better than WiFi,” then they did not communicate it clearly. It’s like saying he prefers soup to chicken noodle soup. It leaves you guessing what he means by “soup.”.

This situation is fraught. I doubt that you or your boss wants to get down in the technical weeds. But he either needs to give clearer direction or let someone else make the choice - whether that is you, the receptionist, his RF guru, or the salesperson at Best Buy.

 

[floppybootstomp]

Hiya Arkitekt, thank you for your contribution to a query asked 15 years ago.

Which, roughly speaking, is much the same as previous answers.

The original posters' boss, incidentally, seems something of a pedantic to me, but that's just me.

We don't have a Best Buy in the UK btw, I think the closest equivalent we have is probably Wilko.

Now then, is this argument/debate the five minute version or the full half hour?

 

[Arkitekt]

What I know about all this radio stuff I’ve learnt in the last two months, and isn’t worth a half-hour version. I knew I was restating what others were probably trying to say. I wallow in the conceit that my preoccupation with clarity renders me more articulate than some.

 

[floppybootstomp]

What I know about all this radio stuff I’ve learnt in the last two months, and isn’t worth a half-hour version. I knew I was restating what others were probably trying to say. I wallow in the conceit that my preoccupation with clarity renders me more articulate than some.

Please don't take offense but I suggest it may be a good idea to seek help from a qualified medical person to remove the dictionary you've swallowed.

Be well

 

[nivrip]

What I know about all this radio stuff I’ve learnt in the last two months, and isn’t worth a half-hour version. I knew I was restating what others were probably trying to say. I wallow in the conceit that my preoccupation with clarity renders me more articulate than some.

it's not good to wallow in conceit nor to feel that one is more articulate than others. I know several people that are very articulate but they are not endowed with a great deal of common sense, which I feel will always trump self aggrandisement and arrogance.