IEEE 802.11 is a series of protocols for wireless networking. Often these are called Wireless LAN, "WLAN", or Wi-Fi. Such a protocol allows computers that have the needed radio parts to communicate with each other, without a cable. There are many types of Wi-Fi standards, known as 802.11 a, b, g, n, and recently ac & ad. These specifications are different in terms of speed and how far away you can use them.