Today’s Most Popular Wi-Fi Standards

Broadband Internet users who enjoy wireless Internet technology know that Wi-Fi standards are constantly evolving and improving, offering wireless users both greater speed and flexibility. Below is a brief overview of the three standards that have come along since 802.11b and 802.11a. While 802.11a is still available to some extent, 802.11b devices are very cheap to buy and are quickly fading into the Wi-Fi standard background.  

Wi-Fi Standards – 802.11i

In 2003, the Wi-Fi standard 802.11i was announced, though it wasn’t released until 2004. The 802.11i standard is actually a specification for wireless LAN security, and it was meant to offer great improvements over the old standard, WEP (Wired Equivalent Privacy). WEP used to be the standard security mechanism that was built into all 802.11 products, but a flaw was soon discovered that compromised the security of wireless LANs. While WEP encrypts data on the wireless network, it still uses the same encryption key over and over again. It doesn’t take much effort for a hacker to figure out this encryption key and get into someone’s wireless LAN.

Wi-Fi Standards – 802.11g

In June of 2004, a third standard, 802.11g was officially ratified. While G uses the same frequency as 802.11b (2.4 GHz), it operates at a maximum level of 54 Mbps, with normal performance coming in around 24.7 GHz.  The implementation of 802.11g was considered successful, though there were some stumbling blocks on the way.

For example, even though it was designed to be compatible with devices that use 802.11b frequencies, there were some conflicts that arose with 802.11b-only devices. Also, older networks that used at least one 802.11b device noticed a significant performance drop in their 802.11g devices. Sometimes, network performance was brought down to actual 802.11b performance levels.

To help solve this problem, a new feature called Super G is now offered. Super G can boost network speeds up to 108 Mbps. However, even Super G has been rumored to have experienced some problems with 802.11b-only devices.

Wi-Fi Standards – 802.11n

As of July 2005, 802.11n is the newest standard to be introduced, though it has not yet been ratified. 802.11n was introduced in January of 2004, and is rumored to offer speeds four to five times faster than 802.11a or 802.11g 802.11n is expected to be fully ratified by sometime in 2006.

As 2005 reaches the halfway mark, WiFi users are beginning to clamor for the 802.11n. In the Internet world, the need for speed never stops!

Related Articles:

• Wi-Fi Standards – the Basics
• Your Introductory Guide to Wireless Broadband  
• Wireless Applications Protocol Info