NETGEAR WG511U user manual 802.11b/g Wireless Channels

User’s Manual for the NETGEAR Double 108 Mbps Wireless PC Card 32-bit CardBus WG511U

802.11b/g Wireless Channels

IEEE 802.11b/g wireless nodes communicate with each other using radio frequency signals in the ISM (Industrial, Scientific, and Medical) band between 2.4 GHz and 2.5 GHz. Neighboring channels are 5 MHz apart. However, due to spread spectrum effect of the signals, a node sending signals using a particular channel will utilize frequency spectrum 12.5 MHz above and below the center channel frequency. As a result, two separate wireless networks using neighboring channels (for example, channel 1 and channel 2) in the same general vicinity will interfere with each other. Applying two channels that allow the maximum channel separation will decrease the amount of channel cross-talk, and provide a noticeable performance increase over networks with minimal channel separation.

The radio frequency channels used in 802.11b/g networks are listed in Table B-1:

Table B-1:	802.11b/g Radio Frequency Channels
Channel	Center Frequency	Frequency Spread
1	2412 MHz	2399.5 MHz - 2424.5 MHz
2	2417 MHz	2404.5 MHz - 2429.5 MHz
3	2422 MHz	2409.5 MHz - 2434.5 MHz
4	2427 MHz	2414.5 MHz - 2439.5 MHz
5	2432 MHz	2419.5 MHz - 2444.5 MHz
6	2437 MHz	2424.5 MHz - 2449.5 MHz
7	2442 MHz	2429.5 MHz - 2454.5 MHz
8	2447 MHz	2434.5 MHz - 2459.5 MHz
9	2452 MHz	2439.5 MHz - 2464.5 MHz
10	2457 MHz	2444.5 MHz - 2469.5 MHz
11	2462 MHz	2449.5 MHz - 2474.5 MHz
12	2467 MHz	2454.5 MHz - 2479.5 MHz
13	2472 MHz	2459.5 MHz - 2484.5 MHz
Wireless Networking Basics			B-3

August 2004