Wireless Standards

By Joshua Erdman
Digital Foundation, inc.

It is like some type of twisted alphabet soup! 802.11a, 802.11b, 802.11g ~ What does it all mean? And where does Bluetooth fit with all this?!?

802.11b

The first practical consumer wireless protocol widely manufactured was 802.11b. It is limited to 11mbps (much faster than anyone's broadband Internet connection but nothing close to the performance you can get using a wired ethernet connection). The 802.11b standard operates on the 2.4GHz frequency (now a common frequency for cordless phones).

802.11a

802.11a was the next standard operating in the 5.8 GHz band. It provides 54mbps of bandwidth (much faster than 802.11b) but it also has limitations. The 5.8GHz frequency has much less penetration because it is more prone to obstacles (such as trees). But it also has its advantages, there are much fewer devices using the 5.8GHz frequency making it an ideal standard for adminsitrators looking for as little interference (or noise from other wireless networks) as possible.

802.11g

802.11g is the latest wireless networking standard operating on the same frequency as 802.11b but also providing the speed of 802.11a (54mbps). It is also is fully backwards compatible with 802.11b wireless clients. This is the perfect standard to migrate to if you are considering a faster wireless network.

Bluetooth

Bluetooth can be described as a wireless version for USB or infrared devices. It is not intended to provide high quality networking and it only works over short distances. Common uses for bluetooth include sending contact data from your computer to your cellphone, printing to a local printer, or synchronizing your PDA.

Unfortunately bluetooth also operates on the 2.4GHz frequency potentially causing interference with your 802.11b/g network... Not to mention beware of using 2.4 GHz cordless phones, they causeall sort of problems on 2.4 GHz networks.

Article last reviewed: 06/08/2004

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