Eric Goedtel: Standards Regarding Wireless Technologies

Standards Regarding Wireless Technologies

When considering a product to buy, the Wi-Fi certification standard helps, but there are many standards concerning wireless internetworking. As the Wi-Fi Alliance is in charge of certifying products to make sure they are compliant with the protocols and standards, the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineering or "IEEE" is in charge of creating the standards which the Wi-Fi Alliance certifies. The IEEE is in charge of over 900 standards ranging from power transmission to computer internetworking to city traffic controls. Thankfully, there is only one standards set needed when dealing exclusively with wireless: IEEE 802.

The IEEE standards documentation claims that IEEE 802 is a general standard controlling Local Area Networks (LANs) and Metropolitan Area Networks (MANs) owned and operated by a single entity.

Within the 802 standard are eight sub-standards that fall within the realm of managing LANs and MANs. Some examples include:

802.1 Architecture of LANs and MANs

802.2 Logical Link Control

802.11 Wireless

802.15 Wireless Personal Area Networks

Fortunately, when dealing with wireless hardware, only the 802.11 substandard applies to our needs. Yet, of course, there are more protocols that make up the 802.11 standard. The About Network most efficiently explains the differences between .11a, .11b, an .11g wireless standards as applicatable to consumers.

802.11a Produced in 1999.
First amendment to standard.
Business applications.
High speed compared to .11b.
High user load capacity
Short signal range and strength.
Moderately expensive equipment.

802.11b Produced in 1999.
Second amendment to standard.
Consumer applications.
Low speed compared to .11a.
Low user load capacity
Extended signal range and strength.
Prone to interference.
Cheapest equipment.

802.11g Produced in 2003.
Seventh amendment to standard.
Home/Office applications.
Highest achieved wireless speed.
Highest user load capacity.
Prone to interference.
Expensive quipment.

Many organizations and corporations advertise 802.11g almost exclusively to consumer-level networks that service between one and twelve users simultaneously. If one was looking to implement wireless networking in their home or home-office, 802.11g is the most promising standard.