User's Manual

35
Troubleshooting
35
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What’s the difference between 802.11b, 802.11g and 802.11a?
Currently฀there฀are฀three฀levels฀of฀wireless฀networking฀standards,฀
which฀transmit฀data฀at฀very฀different฀maximum฀speeds.฀Each฀is฀based฀
on฀the฀designation฀802.11(x),฀so฀named฀by฀the฀IEEE,฀the฀board฀that฀
is฀responsible฀for฀certifying฀networking฀standards.฀802.11b฀transmits฀
information฀at฀11Mbps;฀802.11a฀and฀802.11g฀work฀at฀54Mbps.฀See฀
the฀following฀chart฀for฀more฀detailed฀information.
Wireless Comparison฀
Wireless฀
Technology
802.11b 802.11g 802.11a฀
Speed 11Mbps 54Mbps 54Mbps฀
Frequency
Common฀
household฀devices฀
such฀as฀cordless฀
phones฀and฀
microwave฀ovens฀
may฀interfere฀with฀
the฀unlicensed฀
band฀-฀2.4GHz
Common฀
household฀devices฀
such฀as฀cordless฀
phones฀and฀
microwave฀ovens฀
may฀interfere฀with฀
the฀unlicensed฀
band฀-฀2.4GHz
5GHz฀-฀uncrowded฀
band
Compatibility
Compatible฀with฀
802.11g
Compatible฀with฀
802.11b
Incompatible฀with฀
802.11b฀or฀฀
802.11g
Range
Depends฀on฀
interference฀-฀
typically฀100–200฀
ft.฀indoors
Depends฀on฀
interference฀-฀
typically฀100–200฀
ft.฀indoors
Less฀interference฀-฀
range฀is฀฀
typically฀50-100฀feet
Adoption
Mature฀-฀widely฀
adopted
Expected฀to฀
continue฀to฀grow฀
in฀popularity
Slow฀adoption฀for฀
consumers฀-฀฀
more฀popular฀in฀
business฀฀
environments
Price Inexpensive More฀expensive Most฀expensive