Beginner's guide to Wi-Fi Direct

Every Internet user is familiar with Wi-Fi networks, which allow two or more devices to connect using wireless communication protocols. In fact, Wi-Fi (apparently, the short form of "Wireless Fidelity") is the less technical name for the IEEE 802.11 standard.

And yet, very few people know about Wi-Fi Direct, a peer-to-peer wireless networking mechanism that doesn't require a router and was actually called Wi-Fi P2P in the past.

Wi-Fi direct doesn't need a centralized wireless access point; network clients can communicate with each other directly, the way two phones use Bluetooth to exchange data and files, if you will. Data Alliance CEO George Hardesty states that larger files can be transferred about 10 times faster by making use of Wi-Fi Direct, though.

The technology works by configuring one of the clients/devices as an ad hoc access point, and then connecting the other one to it by making use of Wi-Fi Protected Setup (WPS). It's true that this particular setup could cause problems if the resulting peer-to-peer network is also connected to the Internet.

Why is this happening? Sadly, WPS has a flawed design; any person who knows the PIN key can connect his/her device to the network without needing to use the much stronger WPA2 password. So, an attacker may be able to steal your files over the network even if you followed the best industry practices, changing the WPA2 password every few weeks.

Most devices that utilize WPS make use of the "Push Button" method to connect to the network. So, if the attackers can get access to the target routers, they'll only need to push those tiny WPS buttons to log in.

Therefore, while Wi-Fi Direct is the ideal solution for devices that aren't part of a standard network, devices that use it and are also connected to the Internet are very vulnerable to brute-force attacks. Sadly, due to the flawed design, the number of PIN combinations that need to be tested to break into the system is only 11,000, which is a very small number for today's powerful hardware. You can read this excellent Router Security article to discover more information, as well as the link to a tool that makes hacking into other people's networks really easy.

Wi-Fi Direct is supported by most modern smartphones. It's true that phone makers use different names for this useful feature; Apple markets its own flavor of Wi-Fi Direct as AirDrop, a technology which allows people to share photos, videos, documents and more with other Apple devices in the area.

As you can see, Wi-Fi Direct is perfect for people who don't have Internet access and want to share large files, print wirelessly, play games together, and so on. It's also the perfect alternative to mobile hotspots when network clients need to exchange data, but don't require Internet access. Many people who use computer peripherals, smartphones, portable media players, computers, cameras, wireless headsets, printers and gaming consoles prefer to use this technology, because it has lots of advantages in comparison with Bluetooth.

While it is true that Wi-Fi Direct needs more power, it provides a much longer range and offers a bandwidth that rivals the one that can be achieved over standard wireless networks. So, if battery life is an issue, you should choose Bluetooth for peer-to-peer file transfers; however, for any other use case scenarios, Wi-Fi Direct is the hands-down winner.