Fred, I have a Parrot (2.0). The quadcopter IS a WiFi "access point". So instead of connecting to your home WiFi, you connect your phone or tablet to IT and use the pretty good software from Parrot (iStore or Google Play) , you fly it by moving your thumbs on the screen. (you can also tilt the unit to fly, but it's more challenging) The range of that WiFi is impacted by the number of other access points close by. That's why they say WiFi but stay clear of other WiFi. I can't speak to what frequencies it uses. I can fly it using my Samsung S4 phone, and Asus Transformer 700 tablet. But my iPod gen.4 can't connect to it, for whatever that is worth. The software is currently only on Apple handheld devices and Android, but I think Windows 8.x is coming.
The video it sends back is quite low quality and resolution. The stills it captures are basically thumbnails -- around 340 x 200. The video it captures to a thumbdrive you plug into it is "720p" (1280 x 720) and isn't bad at all. There is no way to capture higher resolution STILLS to that thumbdrive though -- they only capture back at your phone/tablet.
The Parrot is a toy, pure and simple. It's a pretty neat implementation, with spare parts and upgrades available, but you'll only go just so far with it. My range is less than 100 feet, usually far less. It gets you up above the houses and trees for a look -- that's about it. Of course, I'm in "RF Central" with twelve access points visible according to my portable devices, so this is probably your worst case scenario.
Now if you buy the GPS "Flight Recorder" (another $100) it will use GPS not only to stabilize, but also to fly waypoints, outside of WiFi range (using QgroundControl software) really limited only by battery capacity then. The Parrot software also allows you to plot waypoints, but does not send the quad outside of WiFi range. But by that time you've spent close to what you would for a conventionally controlled craft. Well maybe not that close, but you'd be well on your way.
The Parrot isn't particularly good for learning to fly either because you're not using a conventional radio -- you're sliding thumbs on a smooth screen. It may get you past the head-trip of "head-in" control -- where left becomes right and back becomes forward, but so would a cheaper quad using a conventional radio transmitter.