What Is WAP?

WAP stands for Wireless Access Protocol, a general term used to describe the multi-layered protocol and related technologies that bring Internet content to mobile devices such as PDAs and cell phones.

Such devices are referred to as thin clients because they have one or more constraints in the form of display, input, memory, CPU, or other hardware or usability limitations. The platform constraints and the slower (and more expensive) bandwidth of cellular and related networks make standard Internet protocols difficult to utilize. Using the growing set of WAP tools and protocols, however, the mobile Internet is quite a capable tool.