What Is The Most Common Standard Wireless Data Signal?

IEEE 802.eleven Standards

When shopping for wireless devices, such equally laptops, smartphones, routers, and hotspots, you've probably come across different variations of the term IEEE 802.11a/b/g/n/air-conditioning/ax. The technological alphabet soup represents different WiFi standards the wireless device is compatible with.

Unfortunately, understanding WiFi technology is extremely complex. How practice you know which is the most recent, or best for your needs?

We take compiled a list of the most common IEEE 802.xi WiFi standards to assistance you lot understand what the differences are between each IEEE standard.

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What Does IEEE 802.11 Mean?

Similar to how people follow etiquette and politeness rules to communicate with others, wireless devices practise the aforementioned. They must follow a ready of wireless standards or protocols, known as IEEE 802.11, to wirelessly communicate with other devices.

The WiFi standards were created by the Institute of Electric and Electronics Engineers and are certified by the WiFi Brotherhood.

The goal is to create a better wireless LAN experience for the users. Therefore, these standards dictate the data throughput, range, and the employ of frequency bands to reach that goal.

WiFi Standard Naming Scheme

The names of the WiFi standards can be quite difficult to understand.

The WiFi Alliance came up with a new naming system to make it easier for vendors to indicate which standards their devices back up, for service providers to explain what their network offers, and for users to understand which products work with each standard.

Rather than seeing a string of numbers and letters, the new names will consist of the word "WiFi" followed by its generation. For case, 802.11ax applied science, the 6th generation of WiFi, will now be referred to every bit WiFi 6. Information technology's much easier to follow, specially for the average consumer.

In the meantime, it's still important to be familiar with the traditional naming convention. There are many 802.11 standards that have not been given simpler names.

What are the Dissimilar 802.11 Standards?

802.11 standards are developed every couple of years to fill up holes in the current ane and to business relationship for the development of new wireless technology. New standards can be developed to meliorate speeds, range, security, or plant new frequency bands when applicable.

The following list of WiFi standers consists of the most well-known standards in the market for wireless local surface area networks (WLAN).

IEEE 802.11 - 1997

In 1997, the first WLAN standard was released - IEEE 802.11.

Information technology was developed to operate on the two.4 GHz ISM ring and supported speeds of 1 Mbps - 2 Mbps. Compared to the speeds nosotros have at present, it would accept longer to download files and cause challenges with grouping video calls, online gaming, and streaming.

The 802.eleven standard became the "umbrella" for the standards that followed. Basically, information technology gear up the foundation.

IEEE 802.11a (WiFi two)

802.11a was one of the first standards issued under the 802.11 umbrella in 1999.

Rather than using the 2.iv GHz ring, it opted into using the 5 GHz frequency band. By and large, higher frequencies are coupled with faster speeds but shorter range. To achieve better speeds, it was the commencement to implement OFDM (Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing) technology - a digital modulation method used to encode data on multiple frequencies- into its coding scheme, allowing it to have a theoretical maximum speed of 54 Mbps, which was a drastic improvement from the original WiFi standard.

In improver, since 802.11a operated nether the 5 GHz ring, it fabricated the products more expensive. Therefore, it was mostly used in business concern networks.

IEEE 802.11b (WiFi 1)

While 802.11a was beingness developed, so was the 802.11b standard; it was also published in 1999.

802.11b uses DSSS (Direct-Sequence Spread Spectrum) - a modulation method used to reduce point interference - in the 2.4 GHz band, allowing it to have speeds upward to eleven Mbps. The 2.iv band does a good task at penetrating obstacles to provide more WiFi coverage. Unfortunately, the data travels at a much slower rate, especially when information technology'due south coupled with network interferences acquired past devices operating on the same frequency, such as baby monitors, microwave ovens, cordless phones, appliances, and Bluetooth devices. Luckily, interferences tin be mitigated by keeping your 802.11b devices away from the mentioned equipment.

Since WiFi 1 only used the two.4 band, the products were much cheaper than 802.11a, making it more popular for dwelling networks.

In addition, considering that 802.11b and 802.11a products don't use the same frequency band, they are not compatible with each other. So, an 802.11b computer will not work with an 802.11a access point (AP) because the wireless adapter inside the computer will not register the AP, and vice versa.

IEEE 802.11g (WiFi 3)

To fulfill a growing need for faster internet nether the 2.4 GHz band, 802.11g joined the 802.11 family in 2003.

The developers took the all-time qualities of 802.11a and 802.11b to create the 802.11g standard. It supports a networking bandwidth up to 54 Mbps and operates under the ii.4 GHz band.

At the time backward compatibility was a must considering many people still had access points and computers that used the previous standards. 802.11g is backward compatible with 802.11b products. All the same, WiFi products are only capable of tapping into the standard nether which they operate. An 802.11b figurer connected to an 802.11g AP can only become as fast as what the b standard allows. On the flip side, a chiliad device connected to a b AP will only go as fast every bit what the AP offers.

IEEE 802.11n (Wireless-North or WiFi 4)

Wireless-N was adult in 2009 to improve speeds, reliability, and extend the range of wireless transmissions.

It was the starting time standard to utilize MIMO (Multiple-Input Multiple-Output) technology. MIMO products use a series of antennas to receive more data from one device at a fourth dimension, which results in faster information transmissions. In addition, information technology was the showtime to allow the usage of two radio frequencies – two.four GHz and 5 GHz. The employ of both frequencies makes the 802.11n standard compatible with 802.11a/b/k devices.

With all its improved functionalities, WiFi iv supported bandwidth speeds up to 600 Mbps and a had theoretical range of 230 ft indoors, which is a huge upgrade from the previous standards.

IEEE 802.11ac (Gigabit WiFi or WiFi 5)

The 5th generation of WiFi was established in 2013. To reduce interference in the 2.four GHz band, it was developed to operate under the 5 GHz band.

Many 802.11ac WiFi devices are advertised as "dual-band" – technology that uses ii frequency bands for wireless communication. To make that possible, some vendors incorporated Wireless-N engineering science to brand ac products compatible with the 2.4 GHz band. Information rates differ based on which frequency is being used, bandwidth speeds upward to 1300 Mbps can be achieved on the v GHz band, while the 2.4 GHz band has a max speed of 450 Mbps.

WiFi 5 was the showtime to utilize Downlink Multi-User MIMO. It took Wireless-N MIMO engineering one step further to increase data transmission even more. DL MU-MIMO allows wireless routers to transmit data to multiple devices at the aforementioned fourth dimension, improving bandwidth speeds and reducing latency.

With the help of Wireless-N technology, 802.11ac is compatible with 802.11a/b/grand/due north.

IEEE 802.11ad (WiGig)

Designed to provide a Multiple Gigabit Wireless Arrangement (MGWS) with high throughput data, 802.11ad became office of the 802.11 series in 2012.

Information technology accomplished blazingly fast speeds - up to half-dozen.seven Gbps. Dissimilar the previous standards, it didn't employ the ii.4 or 5 GHz bands, it operated under the 60 GHz band. Retrieve, the higher the frequency, the shorter the range. Nether perfect weather condition, 802.11ad devices demand to exist near 30 ft from the access point.

IEEE 802.11ah (WiFi HaLow)

Adopted in May 2017, 802.11ah aimed to use unlicensed frequency bands below 1 GHz. Its purpose was to establish lower energy consumption and create extended-range WLANs that surpassed that of the 2.4/5 GHz bands.

WiFi HaLow operated on the 900 MHz band, allowing information technology to have a theoretical range of 543m indoors (1,781.5 ft) and data transfer speeds upward to 347 Mbps.

Due to its low energy needs, 802.11ah is beneficial for devices trying to communicate over long ranges without using a lot of energy.

IEEE 802.11ax (WiFi six or High-Efficiency WLAN)

Every bit of 2019, the 802.11ax standard has become the newest WiFi standard. Designed to deliver faster speeds, support more devices simultaneously, decrease latency, improve security, and increase bandwidth. To do and so, information technology includes technologies like OFDMA, MU-MIMO, 1024-QAM, and more than. With all of its improvements, it has a theoretical maximum speed of 10 Gbps.

In addition, it operates on the ii.4 and five GHz bands, which hasn't been done since 802.11n. This allows it to be uniform with 802.11a/b/m/north/air conditioning.

Come late 2020 or early 2021, WiFi half-dozen will take a subcategory known every bit WiFi 6E (WiFi half dozen Extended). The FCC has made the 6 GHz frequency available for use. WiFi 6E devices will be able to operate on the 2.4, 5, and six GHz frequencies. As a outcome, compatible WiFi devices volition benefit from less congested frequency bands.

Which WiFi Standard Has the Furthest Range?

In terms of theoretical distance, 802.11ah would have the furthest range, but it's not ordinarily used by the average consumer. Out of the most common WiFi networks, 802.11n technology has the all-time range at 230 ft indoors.

Still, advertised ranges are theoretical. The products take been tested in controlled environments for optimal performance. In the existent world, range can exist impacted past physical obstructions and wireless network interferences.

Luckily, you don't have to adjust to the advertised range and struggle with expressionless spots or weak wireless signals. WiFi range extenders and mesh networks help extend your WiFi connectedness into those hard to achieve spots and reduce the effect of obstructions. They tin both wirelessly or physically (via ethernet cables) connect to a WiFi router or modem to expand the coverage.

How Many IEEE 802.11 Standards are There?

The IEEE working groups have adult over 1,100 standards, with over 600 standards under development. Out of those one,100, over 40 are part of the 802.11 family.

The IEEE 802.11 chart below gives a small overview of many of the WiFi standards.

WiFi Standards	Besides Known Every bit…	Yr Issued	Description
802.11	Northward/A	1997	Original standard. Used the 2.4GHz frequency band, had a maximum bandwidth of 2 Mbps, and a range of 66 ft.
802.11a	WiFi 2	1999	Nether perfect conditions, it achieved speeds up to 54 Mbps on the 5GHz band.
802.11b	WiFi 1 or 802.11 High Charge per unit	1999	Much cheaper to develop because information technology used the ii.4GHz band, therefore information technology became more popular than 802.11a. Achieved speeds up to 11 Mbps.
802.11c	North/A	1998	Associated with bridging 802.11 wireless client device (is at present part of the 802.1D amendment).
802.11d	Due north/A	2001	Allows clients to automatically configure themselves to the specifications of its operating land (known as Earth-Broad Manner), making it easier for countries that are not function of a large domain.
802.11e	Northward/A	2005	Offers quality of service (QoS) features to ameliorate delay-sensitive applications, such as information, voice, and video.
802.11F	N/A	2003	Provides advice betwixt std 802.11 access points on the distribution arrangement (Inter-Admission Betoken Protocol).
802.11g	WiFi three	2003	Combined the all-time of 802.11a/b to achieved speeds upwards to 54 Mbps on the 2.4GHz band.
802.11h	N/A	2003	Originally designed for European regulations to resolve interference bug with satellite and radars using the 5GHz band.
802.11i	Northward/A	2004	Addressed vulnerabilities in WEP security and improved wireless encryption past replacing short authentication and privacy with detailed security for 802.11a/b/g networks.
802.11j	N/A	2004	Designed for Japan, it provides specifications for the utilise of the iv.9GHz and 5 GHz bands for outdoor, indoor, and mobile applications.
802.11k	Northward/A	2008	Better traffic distribution within a WLAN.
802.11m	802.xi Housekeeping or 802.11 Cleanup	1999	Maintenance of the 802.11 serial and related documentation.
802.11n	WiFi 4 or Wireless-N	2009	Uses the ii.4GHz and 5GHz bands and improves speeds up to 600 Mbps.
802.11p	North/A	2010	Adds wireless admission in vehicular environments (WAVE).
802.11r	Fast BSS (Basic Service Fix) Transition or Fast Roaming	2008	Designed to improve handoff speed between access points in a WLAN.
802.11s	N/A	2011	Defines how wireless devices can connect to create a mesh network, which can be used for relatively fixed topologies and ad hoc connectivity networks.
802.11T	Northward/A	2008	Wireless Functioning Prediction (WPP)
802.11u	North/A	2011	Improves internetworking with external networks.
802.11v	N/A	2011	Wireless networking enhancements for the direction and configuration of customer devices.
802.11w	N/A	2009	Increases direction frame security.
802.11y	N/A	2008	Supports functioning in the 3650-3700 MHz bands in the USA.
802.11ac	WiFi five	2013	Supports ii.4GHz (through 802.11n tech) and 5GHz bands and has speeds upwardly to 1300 Mbps.
802.11ad	WiGig	2012	Achieves extremely fast speeds (up to half-dozen.7Gbps) on the 60GHz frequency.
802.11af	White-Fi or Super WiFi	2014	Allows WLANs to operate in TV white space spectrum between 54 and 790 MHz.
802.11ah	WiFi HaLow	2016	Uses frequency bands beneath 1GHz for lower energy consumption and extended range.
802.11ai	N/A	2016	Establishes fast initial link setup (FILS) methods.
802.11aj	China Millimeter Wave	2018	Enabled operation in the Chinese Millimeter Wave frequency bands – 60GHz and 45GHz - past modifying 802.11ad'southward physical and medium access control layers.
802.11ak	Due north/A	2018	Enhance the ability of IEEE 802.eleven media to provide transit links internal to IEEE 802.1Q bridged networks.
802.11ax	WiFi vi	2019	Delivers faster speeds, support more than devices simultaneously, subtract latency, improve security, and increment bandwidth.
802.11ay	Next Generation 60GHz	Nether Development	Defines a new physical layer (PHY) for 802.eleven networks to operate in the 60GHz band and will be an extension to 802.11ad to extend throughput and range.
802.11az	N/A	Nether Development	Define modifications to the PHY and MAC layers.
802.11ba	Wake Up Radio (WUR)	Nether Development	Intends to extend the battery life of devices and sensors, particularly those within the Net of Things (IoT) networks. .
802.11be	WiFi vii	Under Development	Will build on 802.11ax to achieve extremely high throughput (EHT) and will use ii.4, five, and 6GHz bands.

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