These are other standards for wireless networks that have been established by the IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc), the group with regulatory responsibility over this technology. Most of the discussions in this refer to the 802.11b standards since this technology is the most firmly established for home use, but what about the others?
802.11a applies to wireless LANs in the 5GHz band and provides speeds up to 54 Mbps. Access points and adapters are on the market. This is 5 times faster than the 802.11b, however, there are no CF cards in this format and since they run at on a different radio band, they are not directly compatible with 802.11b networking products.
802.11g is the latest set of approved standards and is rapidly becoming the most common equipment for home networks. It runs on the same band (2.4GHz) as 802.11b and the original proposed standards allowed for speeds comparable to the 802.11a (54 Mbps). However, in order to make the equipment backwards compatible with 802.11b, the final standards only provide for speeds up to 20 Mbps when operated in mixed mode. Linksys recently released a CF card and other manufacturers will probably soon follow, but PPCs with built in wireless are not currently available in this format. PDAs won't necessarily transfer network data much faster because of other limiting factor, so running a 802.11g vs. 802.11b network may not make much of a difference to you.
Another point to consider is home broadband is limited to about 3 to 5 Mbps transfer rates (less for DSL) so buying G or enhanced G equipment really isn't going to improve your web connection. However, the higher rated equipment will improve transfers between various PCs on your home network.
802.11a applies to wireless LANs in the 5GHz band and provides speeds up to 54 Mbps. Access points and adapters are on the market. This is 5 times faster than the 802.11b, however, there are no CF cards in this format and since they run at on a different radio band, they are not directly compatible with 802.11b networking products.
802.11g is the latest set of approved standards and is rapidly becoming the most common equipment for home networks. It runs on the same band (2.4GHz) as 802.11b and the original proposed standards allowed for speeds comparable to the 802.11a (54 Mbps). However, in order to make the equipment backwards compatible with 802.11b, the final standards only provide for speeds up to 20 Mbps when operated in mixed mode. Linksys recently released a CF card and other manufacturers will probably soon follow, but PPCs with built in wireless are not currently available in this format. PDAs won't necessarily transfer network data much faster because of other limiting factor, so running a 802.11g vs. 802.11b network may not make much of a difference to you.
Another point to consider is home broadband is limited to about 3 to 5 Mbps transfer rates (less for DSL) so buying G or enhanced G equipment really isn't going to improve your web connection. However, the higher rated equipment will improve transfers between various PCs on your home network.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment