Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) Gateway

What Does Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) Gateway Mean?

The Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) gateway is part of a protocol for protected use of the Internet. In WAP, requests to access a website are sent through a WAP gateway for security purposes.

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Techopedia Explains Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) Gateway

Typically, the WAP gateway is a server that acts as an intermediary in an access request. The server gets data from the requested web site by HTTP and coverts it into an encrypted form that goes out to the client endpoint.

The protocol used is called Wireless Markup Language (WML). WML has its roots in Extensible Markup Language (XML), a language developed with a specific syntax to address ‘plans’ or ‘schemas’ for complex documents.

In addition to WML, a Wireless or WAP Protocol Stack determines how data are sent between the gateway and the user’s device. This type of networking provides a more capable environment for Internet use as the Internet grows and expands.

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Margaret Rouse

Margaret Rouse is an award-winning technical writer and teacher known for her ability to explain complex technical subjects to a non-technical, business audience. Over the past twenty years her explanations have appeared on TechTarget websites and she's been cited as an authority in articles by the New York Times, Time Magazine, USA Today, ZDNet, PC Magazine and Discovery Magazine.Margaret's idea of a fun day is helping IT and business professionals learn to speak each other’s highly specialized languages. If you have a suggestion for a new definition or how to improve a technical explanation, please email Margaret or contact her…