Wireless Networks Standards Review

The major wireless LAN technology used nowadays is 802.11 - family of specifications developed by IEEE 802.11 Group. Looking from ISO/OSI network model perspective, the specification concerns only physical layer, which is radio in this case, and data link layer which is actual 802.11a/b/g protocol. Currently three versions of 802.11 standard are in use: "a", "b" and "g". They differ mostly by bandwidth, scope and radio frequency used. Each flavor has its advantages and disadvantages and deciding which version to use can be a little confusing. Look at the quick comparision table and read the paragraphs below to learn more about each version.

802.11b

This is the most popular and the most widely used wireless network standard. It's suitable for both home and office use. 802.11b network operates at public, unlicensed 2.4 GHz band. This is a weekness of this standard, because of possible interferences with other equipement that uses the same frequency, like cordless phones or microwaves. It can make your network unstable or slow. 802.11b standard supports speeds from 1Mbit through 2 Mbit and 5 Mbit to 11 Mbit. Some producers extend the 802.11b standard and support also 22 Mbit, but it usually works on such speed only between hardware manufactured by this specific producer. You have to remember that the faster the connection speed niepotrzebne the bigger vulnerability to interferences. If you want to make long scope wireless network (like about 1 or 2 km), you will probably have to setup it to run on slower than maximum 11 Mbit throughput.

802.11a

The "a" version of 802.11 has two major advantages over 802.11b, nevertheless it isn't so popular and widely used. First advantage is almost 4 times higher real-life throughput than "b" version. That means you can transfer data with 54 Mbit speed. Like with 802.11b hardware, producers offer enhanced 802.11a equipement that can work with doubled - 100Mbit - speed. But you have to remember that it breaks compability with 802.11a standard and thus works only among hardware produced by one manufacturer. Another advantage of 802.11a over 802.11b is that it uses not as much populated frequency (5.15 Ghz to 5.35 Ghz) as 2.4 GHz. This makes 802.11a much more immune to interferences making your wireless network more stable. There are however also some disadvantages of "a" version. 802.11a hardware is more expensive, it's incompatibile with 802.11b/g and has a shorter range. There is also an opinion that 802.11a hardware uses more power and because of this drains your laptop battery faster. Another huge drawback is lack of available HotSpots, comparing to thousands of 802.11b/g spread around the World.

802.11g

802.11g combines the best features of both previous standards. It has 54 Mbit throughput like 802.11a and is backward compatibile with much more popular 802.11b standard. Backward compability is possible because new 802.11g standard works on the same unlicensed 2.4 GHz band as it's predecesor. 802.11g is the most popular wireless network type nowadays. It is generally the best choice and we recommend it for both home and office use.

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