On modern wireless LAN networks there are a number of different techniques that have been brought to market over the last 10 years or so. Each of them have made wireless networks in a typical household more cost effective and relatively easy to install.
This article takes a look at the four main 802.11 wireless LAN standards in use today, and briefly discusses how they differ and how they have evolved over the years.
802.11 Modern Standards
There are a number of different wireless standards that are available on the market today. People unfamiliar with the specifics can be quickly confused by this because many of these differing standards share the same base name: 802.11. The four modern wireless LAN standards that are in use today include:
- 802.11b
- 802.11a
- 802.11g
- 802.11n
802.11b
Many people will best remember 802.11b because it has been on the market the longest. 802.11b has been the primary wireless LAN standard deployed for a long time. This was mainly because it was cost effective, easy to implement and easy to sample in local electronics stores. 802.11b offers up to 11 Mbps of maximum theoretical bandwidth which 10 years ago seemed exceptional.
802.11a
Even at the time 802.11b was gaining in the wireless LAN market, the 802.11a standard had already been developed. The problem with 802.11a was it had many untimely technical stumbling blocks, was more expensive to build, and thus more expensive to deploy. Due to this, 802.11a has never been a technology widely deployed in customer or small business networks.
It was however highly deployed in enterprise networks. This popularity had a lot to do with the fact that the 802.11a standard utilizes the 5 GHz band which has considerably less interference, as well as a maximum theoretical bandwidth of 54 Mbps. On top of this, the 802.11a standard offered a channel map that offered a number of different available non-overlapping channels; the number depended greatly on the vendor of the equipment and where it was being deployed.
The 802.11a differed from the 802.11b standard which only offered three non-overlapping channels. With only three channels available, enterprise 802.11b wireless LAN deployment quickly turned into a game of figuring out how to place wireless equipment without overlapping channels with other equipment.
802.11g
The next standard that became available was 802.11g. This standard took advantage of the cheaper 2.4 GHz band radios, but offered the ability to get the same speeds that were available with 802.11a. This was great, but the same channel overlap issues remained.
802.11n
It took time, but the best of both worlds became available with the release of 802.11n equipment. The 802.11n standard offers support for not only the 2.4 GHz band but also the 5 GHz band; it also offers speeds that far exceed any of the other standards. If using the 802.11n standard in the 2.4 GHz range, the same channel issues exist especially when it is implemented with 40 MHz channels.
The best solution possible is to implement 802.11n using the 5 GHz band. This enables the use of many non-overlapping channels and offers many more total channels of maximum bandwidth (currently around 600 Mbps using 4 spatial streams (~150 Mbps a piece)).
Summary
There are certainly a large number of initials out there that make the deployment of wireless LANs confusing; this is further complicated by unknowledgeable sales staff at common electronics stores. While the new 802.11n standard devices certainly can make deployment simpler, there are still many devices on the market that take advantage of different parts of the 802.11n standard.
For example, there is equipment that supports only the 2.4 GHz band, or either the 2.4 OR 5 GHz band. Also, there is equipment that supports the 2.4 GHz band AND the 5 GHz band. On top of this, some equipment support different multiples of spatial streams, offering 300, 450 and 600 Mbps options.
When deploying your own wireless network, make sure to research the equipment to ensure that the access point/wireless router and the client adapters support the same frequency ranges and number of spatial streams. Otherwise your money will be lost on equipment that could potentially work faster had proper research and equipment matching been completed.
Hopefully this article has given you a good review of the available wireless options and how they compare to each other.
Master Wireless Networking
If you’re interested in learning more about wireless networking, there are two certifications that you should take into consideration:
Wireless networking skills are currently in high demand as wireless technology is becoming utilized by more and more organizations. Having a good understanding of how the networking protocols fit together, how security is implemented, how to improve user experience and what needs to be taken into account when designing a wireless LAN are all extremely valuable skills.
TrainSignal offers training for both the CWNA and CCNA Wireless certifications:
Dear Sean,
Kindly tell the difference b/w CWNA wireless and ccna wirelss.
Regards,
puneet Sharma