Wi-Fi is also referred to as WLAN or 802.11 because 802.11 is a set of standards defined by the IEEE for wireless local area networks (WLAN). The IEEE also releases amendments to the original 802.11 standard as improvements in performance or security are made. This page shows a comparison of four 802.11 PHY protocols which will be discussed in further detail in a moment. However, the main point here is that each new release provides a higher data rate or service to a new frequency band.