At first glance, the land of Wi-Fi seems enshrouded in an impenetrable fog of cryptic techno jargon. Fortunately, most of this palaver is indeed irrelevant to most users. In this series of articles, we will focus on the pertinent facts needed to get safely oriented in this new wireless landscape.
We begin our adventure with the various radio transmission protocols that emerged from the first Wi-Fi standard of 802.11. Each variation of this protocol has its own esoteric technical intricacies, but you only need to know what each protocol does in terms of what it will and will not let you do. Of the several 802.11 protocols that currently exist, the most important are 802.11a, 802.11b, and 802.11g.
Protocol 802.11a became popular with business and power users for video conferencing, multimedia, and other data intensive uses. This was because 802.11a was five times faster than its 802.11b contemporary. It also operated in the higher 5 GHz frequency bands which made it less vulnerable to interference from common appliances like microwaves and cell phones than its sibling. These advantages did not come cheaply as it was expensive to develop and produce hardware for the 802.11a protocol.
Protocol 802.11b became popular among home users and the cost conscious because it used the lower a 2.4 GHz bands that made it cheaper to build and increased its operational range by three. The drawback was that it was slower, and more susceptible to performance degrading noise.
Because 802.11a and 802.11b use different frequencies, the two technologies are incompatible. Some vendors offer hybrid 802.11a/b network devices, but these products simply implement the two standards side by side.
The newer protocol 802.11g attempts to combine the best features of 802.11a and 802.11b. 802.11g has data speeds as fast as 802.11a, uses the 2.4 GHz frequency for greater range, and is backwards compatible with 802.11b. The drawbacks for 802.11g are that it remained vulnerable to interference problems, and that connecting of any 802.11b device will slow an entire Wi-Fi network down to 802.11b speeds.
What does all this mean when you are shopping for your next network upgrade? The bottom line is that 802.11a devices are exorbitantly priced and hard to find, and popular 802.11b devices are already showing their age. For most home and business users, the newer 802.11g devices are the best choice. These affordable devices average only $40 more than their 802.11b counterparts. Adequate performance, good signal range, backwards compatibility, and new additional security features make the slight expense of choosing 802.11g over 802.11b worth it.
In our next article, we will discuss how to properly implement Wi-Fi security to protect your network.
Bruce Padmore is the Co-Founder of Leap Frog Solutions, Inc. Leap Frog Solutions is an IT Service Provider helping businesses and home users in a broad range of computer, network, and software needs. Leap Frog's unique philosophy and approach to providing affordable, consistent, and high quality IT service was developed from working for demanding Fortune 500 clients.
To learn more about how Leap Frog Solutions applies its veteran experience to home users and local businesses, log into www.LeapFrogNow.com or call 888-549-0752.
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