Wireless Standards

802.11,802.11a,802.11b,802.11g,802.11n and 802.11r

802.11g

Created Date: 2002-2003 by IEEE(The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers)

Data Rate: 54 Mbps

Frequency: 2.4GHz

Modulation technique:: Orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM)

Range: 38m

Compatibility: Backwards compatible with 802.11b

Cons:costs more than 802.11b; appliances may interfere on the unregulated signal frequency

Application Area: Rapidly adopted by consumers

802.11n

Created Date: Not yet Approved by IEEE(The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers)

Data Rate: Over 100 Mbps

Frequency: 2.4GHz

Modulation technique: Multiple-input Multiple-output (MIMO)

Range: 70m

Compatibility: Backwards compatible with 802.11g

Cons:Standard is not yet finalized; costs more than 802.11g; the use of multiple signals may greatly interfere with nearby 802.11b/g based networks.

Application Area: lowest cost; signal range is good and not easily obstructed

802.11r

The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) has approved the 802.11r Wi-Fi protocol, which allows Wi-Fi enabled devices to pass between WLAN access points more quickly.

The standard promises to improve the quality and security of VoIP services, as with existing protocols, swapping from one access point to another takes considerable time.

With the 802.11r standard, which is also known as Fast Basic Service Set Transition, it takes less than 50 milliseconds to enable the security authentication of the service, during the course of switching over.

This is less than half the time taken by existing standards.

Development of the 802.11r standard began in 2004 and approval for publishing the final draft of the standard was given by the 802.11r task group in January.