Comparative table of standard 802.

11

Main 802.11 Standards

802.11 Legacy
The original version of the IEEE 802.11 standard published in 1997 specifies two theoretical transmission speeds of 1
and 2 megabits per second (Mbit/s) transmitted via infrared (IR) signals in the ISM band at 2.4 GHz. IR continues
being part of the standard, but there are no available implementations.

The original standard also defines the CSMA/CA protocol (Carrier Sense Multiple Access with Collision Avoidance)
collisions) as an access method. An important part of the theoretical transmission speed is used in the
needs of this encoding to improve the quality of the transmission under various environmental conditions, which
which resulted in interoperability difficulties between equipment from different brands. These and other weaknesses were
corrected in the 802.11b standard, which was the first of this family to achieve wide acceptance among the
consumers.

CSMA/CA: It is a network control protocol used to prevent collisions between data packets.
(commonly in wireless networks, since they do not have a practical way to transmit and receive)
simultaneously)).

802.11a
The 802.11a revision of the original standard was ratified in 1999. The 802.11a standard uses the same protocol set
based on the original standard, operates in the 5 GHz band and uses 52 subcarriers orthogonal frequency-division
multiplexing (OFDM) with a maximum speed of 54 Mbit/s, making it a practical standard for networks
Wireless with actual speeds of approximately 20 Mbit/s. The data speed is reduced to 48, 36, 24, 18,
12, 9 or 6 Mbit/s if necessary. 802.11a has 12 non-overlapping channels, 8 for wireless networks and 4 for connections.
point to point. It cannot interoperate with devices of the 802.11b standard, unless compatible equipment is available.
implement both standards.

Since the 2.4 GHz band is heavily used (as it is the same band used by cordless phones and the
microwave ovens, among other devices), using the 5 GHz band represents an advantage of the standard
802.11a, since there are fewer interferences. However, the use of this band also has its
disadvantages, as it restricts the use of 802.11a equipment to only line-of-sight points, which means that
it is necessary to install a greater number of access points; This also means that the equipment that
they work with this standard cannot penetrate as far as those of the 802.11b standard since their waves are more
easily absorbed.

Transmisión Exteriores Valor Máximo A 30 metros 54 Mbps Valor Mínimo A 300 metros 6 Mbps Interiores Valor Máximo
A 12 metros 54 Mbps Valor Mínimo A 90 metros 6 Mbps

OFDM: It is a FDM modulation technique that allows the transmission of large amounts of digital data over a
radio wave. OFDM divides the radio signal into many sub-signals that are transmitted simultaneously to the
receiver at different frequencies. OFDM reduces crosstalk (crossing lines effect) during transmission of the
signal).

802.11b
The 802.11b revision of the original standard was ratified in 1999. 802.11b has a maximum transmission speed of
11 Mbit/s and uses the same CSMA/CA access method defined in the original standard. The 802.11b standard works
in the 2.4 GHz band. Due to the space occupied by the CSMA/CA protocol coding, in practice, the
the maximum transmission speed with this standard is approximately 5.9 Mbit/s over TCP and 7.1 Mbit/s over
UDP.

The products of 802.11b appeared in the market very quickly because 802.11b is a direct extension
from the DSSS modulation technique defined in the original standard. Therefore, the chips and products were easily
updated to support the improvements of 802.11b. The dramatic increase in the use of 802.11b along with
substantial price reductions caused a rapid acceptance of 802.11b as the Wireless LAN technology
definitive.

802.11b is usually used in point-to-point and multipoint configurations as in the case of APs that communicate with
an omnidirectional antenna with one or more clients located in a coverage area around it
AP. The typical indoor range is 32 meters at 11 Mbit/s and 90 meters at 1 Mbit/s. With high-gain antennas.
externally the protocol can be used in fixed point-to-point arrays typically in ranges greater than 8 Km even
in some cases from 80 to 120 km as long as there is line of sight. This is usually done to replace the
expensive line equipment or the use of microwave communication equipment.

802.11b cards can operate at 11 Mbit/s but can be reduced to 5.5, 2, or 1 Mbit/s in case of
signal quality becomes an issue. Since low information transfer rates use
less complex and more redundant algorithms to protect data are less susceptible to corruption due to
to the attenuation or interference of the signal. There have been extensions to the 802.11b protocol to increase its
speeds of 22, 33, 44 Mbit/s but these have not been ratified by the IEEE. Many companies refer to these
improved versions 802.11b+. These extensions have been largely overlooked by the developers of 802.11g
which has transfer rates of 54 Mbit/s and is compatible with 802.11b

DSSS: It is one of the spread spectrum modulation methods for transmitting digital signals over
radio waves that are most commonly used

802.11g
In June 2003, a third modulation standard was ratified: 802.11g. This uses the 2.4 Ghz band (just like
the 802.11b standard) but operates at a maximum theoretical speed of 54 Mbit/s, or about 24.7 Mbit/s of actual speed
of transfer, similar to the 802.11a standard. It is compatible with the b standard and uses the same frequencies.
A good part of the design process of the standard involved making the two standards compatible. However, in
networks under the g standard the presence of nodes under the b standard significantly reduces the speed of
transmission. The maximum range of 802.11g devices is slightly greater than that of 802.11b devices but the range
that the client can reach 54 Mbit/s is much shorter than in the case of 802.11b.

The devices that operate under the 802.11g standard reached the market very quickly, even before its
ratification. This was partly due to the fact that building equipment under this new standard could adapt the already existing ones
designed for standard b. Many of the dual-band 802.11a/b products were converted from dual-band to mode
triple supporting (a, b, and g) on a single mobile adapter or AP. Despite its greater acceptance, 802.11g suffers from the
the same interference of 802.11b in the already saturated 2.4 GHz range by devices such as microwaves,
Bluetooth devices and cordless phones
802.11n
En enero de 2004, la IEEE anunció la formación de un grupo de trabajo 802.11 para desarrollar una nueva revisión del
In the 802.11 standard, the actual transmission speed could reach up to 500 Mbps (which means that speeds
transmission theories would be even greater), and it should be up to 10 times faster than a network under the standards
802.11a and 802.11g, and nearly 40 times faster than a network under the 802.11b standard. It is also expected that the
The operational reach of networks will be greater with this new standard. There are also other alternative proposals.
which may be considered and it is expected that the standard that was to be completed by the end of 2006 will be implemented
by 2008, since it is not until early 2007 that the second draft is finished. Nevertheless, there is already
devices that have anticipated the protocol and unofficially offer this standard (with the promise of
updates to meet the standard when the final one is implemented

802.11n is built based on the previous versions of the 802.11 standard by adding MIMO (Multiple-Input Multiple-
MIMO uses multiple transmitters and receiving antennas, allowing to increase data traffic.

Comparative table between the main IEEE 802.11 standards