WiFi is becoming a way of communicating without wires, just like Bluetooth. What is WiFi Direct and how does it work?
More and more new devices are using Wi-Fi Direct. Wi-Fi Direct allows two devices to establish a direct Wi-Fi connection peer-to-peer without the need for a wireless router. Wi-Fi is becoming a way of communicating wirelessly, just like Bluetooth.
Wi-Fi Direct is similar in concept to an "ad-hoc" Wi-Fi mode. However, unlike connection Wi-Fi ad-hoc, Wi-Fi Direct includes an easier way to automatically find nearby devices and connect to them.
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What Is Wifi Direct and How Does It Work?
You may already have a device that uses Wi-Fi Direct. For example, Roku 3 equipped with a remote control that communicates using Wi-Fi Direct instead of using IR blaster old or Bluetooth connection.
The remote control doesn't actually connect to your wireless router. Instead, Roku creates a new Wi-Fi network that the remote control connects to, and the two communicate over their own small network.
You will see this as a Wi-Fi network named DIRECT-roku - ### while in the Roku range. You can't connect if you try because you don't have the security key. The security key is automatically negotiated between the remote control and the Roku.
This gives devices an easy way to communicate with each other using the standard Wi-Fi protocol. You don't have to go through the procedure set-up the hard one. You don't need to enter your Wi-Fi passphrase into the remote control, as the connection process happens automatically.
Other Uses for Wi-FI Direct
The Miracast wireless display standard also uses Wi-Fi Direct, although this doesn't create much confidence, because Miracast seems very incompatible between different devices.
Peripherals, such as the mouse and keyboard, can also communicate via Wi-Fi Direct. Wi-Fi Direct can be used to connect remotely to wireless printer without requiring the printer to join an existing wireless network.
Android also includes built-in support for Wi-Fi Direct, although only a few apps use it.
Many devices already use Wi-Fi with radio Built-in Wi-Fi. Rather than building different hardware, such as Bluetooth, Wi-Fi Direct allows them to communicate wirelessly without the need for additional specialized hardware. This adds additional functionality without requiring different hardware.
**How does WiFi Direct work?
Wi-Fi Direct uses a number of standards to accomplish its functions:
Wi-Fi: Wi-Fi Direct uses the same Wi-Fi technology that Wi-Fi devices use to communicate with wireless routers. A Wi-Fi Direct device can basically function as a access point, and other Wi-Fi enabled devices can connect directly to it. This is already possible with ad-hoc networks, but Wi-Fi Direct extends this feature with easy setup and discovery features.
Wi-Fi Direct Device and Service Discovery: This protocol gives Wi-Fi Direct devices a way to find each other and the services they support before connecting. As an example. A Wi-Fi Direct device can see all compatible devices in the area and then narrow the list to only those devices that allow printing before displaying a list of nearby Wi-Fi Direct-enabled printers.
Wi-Fi Protected Setup: When two devices are connected to each other, they are automatically connected via Wi-Fi Protected Setup, or WPS. We can only hope that the device makers use a secure connection method for this WPS connection and not the WPS PIN method which is very insecure.
WPA2: Wi-Fi Direct devices use WPA2 encryption, which is the most secure way to encrypt Wi-Fi.
Wi-Fi Direct can also be called Wi-Fi peer-to-peer or Wi-Fi P2P, because it works in peer-to-peer. Wi-Fi Direct devices connect directly to each other, not through a wireless router.
Are you able to use it now?
But what exactly can you use Wi-Fi Direct for now? Well, if your devices and peripherals are designed to use Wi-Fi Direct, they will use Wi-Fi Direct without you having to think about it. The Roku 3 does this, as mentioned above.
While Wi-Fi Direct should theoretically be the standard that allows certain types of devices that support the Wi-Fi Direct standard to communicate with each other, this hasn't actually happened.
For example, you might have two new laptops, each advertised as supporting Wi-Fi Direct. You might have thought there would be a way to set up easy file sharing between them using Wi-Fi Direct, but you'd be wrong this time.
There is no easy way to connect Android smartphones to a Windows laptop and really do a lot first. For now, Wi-Fi Direct isn't a feature you should really pay attention to. Going forward, this could become a more useful standard.
That's the explanation of Wifi Direct and how it works. How do you respond? Share in the comments column yes.
