Hi all, I never was quite sure what wi-fi meant until recently. It is a RF connection to my laptop. I must have it because I see wi-fi on in my settings windows 10 and Lenovo idea-pad 320 laptop.
There must be a transceiver chip in my laptop. Does anybody know what this chip is and where I could get it? I wish to do some RF work in the future.
The immediate problem. I want to pick up the temperature of a remote object on my laptop via the wi-fi connection. I have seen many devices for ordinary temperatures and a few for high temperature for wi-fi. e.g. MONIT wi-fi high temp sensor( this is American so hard to get.) Although this sounds simple I have learnt by experience that it never is.
Can anybody advise me of a good product that will allow me to read the temp of a remote hot object (up to 100c) on my laptop using the wi-fi connection. Also the necessary inputs(steps) I need to make on my laptop to make this happen?
Thanks in advance.

 

This is a very common and practical application.

If you did not know what is wi-fi then I would assume that you have not be introduced to IOT (Internet of Things).

No, you do not need to know what transceiver chip is being used in your laptop. That information will not help you achieve your goal. Your question is related to "How does the internet work?" or how is information transferred from one device to another wirelessly? This is not a simple question to answer and would required months of study in order to implement your own solution.

Fortunately, there are ready made solutions available for the hobbyist. Unfortunately, they all have a very steep learning curve. Be aware!

How can two devices communicate without connecting wires?
There are many workable solutions of which I will list the most common ones:

1) Infra-red communications
2) RF communications which include:

1. simple radio signalling
2. bluetooth
3. Zigbee
4. LAN (Local Area Network) = wi-fi

If you are new to computer technology for hobbyist then you ought to become familiar with Arduino platform before attempting to implement wireless data communications. There are many off-the-shelf solutions using the Arduino platform.

https://create.arduino.cc/projecthub/shotsphere/wireless-thermometer-728f13

After that, you ought to look at ESP32 and also Omega2. There are many other solutions on the market. Have a look at these:

https://www.adafruit.com/category/256
https://www.robotshop.com/uk/wifi-data-telemetry.html
https://www.sparkfun.com/categories/112

 

There are two products that I use for WiFi temperature monitoring from my PC or my phone. From my network or anywhere in the world. th10, th16

The ones I get have a thermistor like either. The one on the right (two slightly different types) measures temp and humidity.
The one on the left is temp only and works to a higher range.

This box has a switch to turn on/off a heater or cooler but you don't need that.
I can see from my computer the temp in the dog house, chicken house, barn, my house, outdoors.

 

This is a very common and practical application.

If you did not know what is wi-fi then I would assume that you have not be introduced to IOT (Internet of Things).

No, you do not need to know what transceiver chip is being used in your laptop. That information will not help you achieve your goal. Your question is related to "How does the internet work?" or how is information transferred from one device to another wirelessly? This is not a simple question to answer and would required months of study in order to implement your own solution.

Fortunately, there are ready made solutions available for the hobbyist. Unfortunately, they all have a very steep learning curve. Be aware!

How can two devices communicate without connecting wires?
There are many workable solutions of which I will list the most common ones:

1) Infra-red communications
2) RF communications which include:

1. simple radio signalling
2. bluetooth
3. Zigbee
4. LAN (Local Area Network) = wi-fi

If you are new to computer technology for hobbyist then you ought to become familiar with Arduino platform before attempting to implement wireless data communications. There are many off-the-shelf solutions using the Arduino platform.

https://create.arduino.cc/projecthub/shotsphere/wireless-thermometer-728f13

After that, you ought to look at ESP32 and also Omega2. There are many other solutions on the market. Have a look at these:

https://www.adafruit.com/category/256
https://www.robotshop.com/uk/wifi-data-telemetry.html
https://www.sparkfun.com/categories/112

Just as I thought Mr Chips. No simple solution. Quite familiar with computers and also Arduino. Fortunately I have found a very simple solution. It is the THERMOPRO tp20 wireless remote digital cooking food.
It enables remote up to 300 feet sensing of temperature in an oven or in meat with probes. The probe goes into the oven or meat and there is a wire from there going out the door of the oven to a transmitter. A separate receiver can be situated up to 300 feet away to receive the temperature. Pretty neat.
I would have liked a wi-fi link to my laptop. Somebody else on the forum may yet give me the step by step solution I need. May try the Arduino solution. Thanks Mr Chips for the references.