Wifi Direct

We have been getting many questions with regards to Wifi Direct technology. A few year ago wireless technology like Wifi, Infra-Red, BlueTooth, NFC etc are best known for data communication.

Now you would be thinking what about wifi? If you look at it wifi allows several devices, computers, printers, mobiles etc.. to wirelessly transfer data and communicate with each other.  The only catch with wifi was that it needed a medium for the data transfer or communication to take place, that medium was usually a wireless access point / wireless router.  So the wifi alliance came up with a new technology and called it Wifi Direct.

Wifi Direct:

Thus Wifi Direct can also be called peer-to-peer Wifi, in essence it allows for two or more devices to connect to each other directly without the need for a wireless access point (wireless router).

In order for a device to be able to use Wifi Direct it needs to be certified by the Wifi Alliance. The certification is known as Wifi Certified and currently over 550 products have been certified Wifi Direct and the product range is expanding. Example of products that have been certified Wifi Direct include Smartphones, Televisions, Laptops etc.

Working:

You have to disconnect any Wi-Fi access points or hotspot in order to use the Wi-Fi Direct, most of the time it is disconnected automatically when Wifi Direct is activated, other connections are also disabled when you turn on the Wi-Fi Direct.

With the help of Super Beam large files can be shared between android devices using Wi-Fi Direct.  It establishes a connection between two devices with the help of a Wi-Fi protected setup protocol. With the help of this protocol the need to connect devices in a traditional way has been reduced, some other protocols have also been developed in order to enhance the usefulness of the Wi-Fi Direct.  The other protocols include Universal Plug and Play protocol, devices profile for web services and zero configuration networking.

Uses:

The Wi-Fi Direct certified devices can be used for almost any kind of application for example you can share your data or synchronize your data with the help of Wi-Fi direct. In addition to this you can also play games, watch videos and socialize meaning you can practically do all the things that you do with a regular Wi-Fi connection, except that you don’t need a wireless access point.

Future:

Wi-Fi Direct is the working up to be the best wireless data transfer technology that is used not only for data sharing but also for steaming content like music and video. In the future any device such as mobile phones, PC’s, cameras and printers are now connecting to each other with the help of the Wi-Fi direct.  With the help of Wi-Fi one –to-one and a group connection can be established. All the connections of the Wi-Fi direct are protected by the WPA2 technology for security.

Advantages:

 • Portability & Mobility: Wi-Fi Direct is portable and mobile as it does not require a wireless router.

 • Instant Efficacy: New innovations are being introduced with the help of this technology. There are

   number of devices that connect to each other with the help of Wi-Fi Direct.

 • Easy to use: Whenever any connection is available, it automatically shows the available connections and

   connection is relatively easy.

 • Secure connectivity: Wi-Fi Direct protected setup helps in the establishment of a secure connection. A

   secure connection can be created with the help of PIN.

Disadvantages:

 • Bugs: The Wi-Fi Direct relatively new to the Android operating system. Users sometimes find bugs in it.

 • Limitation: Wi-Fi Direct does not support Apple Phones.

 • Ownership: To establish a connection in a group an owner or superuser is needed and the connection

    disconnects when the owner leaves the group.