Belkin F5D7011 What’s the difference between 802.11b, 802.11g and 802.11a?, Wireless Comparison

Troubleshooting

What’s the difference between 802.11b, 802.11g and 802.11a?

Currently there are three levels of wireless networking standards, which transmit data at very different maximum speeds. Each is based on the designation 802.11(x), so named by the IEEE, the board that is responsible for certifying networking standards. The most common wireless networking standard, 802.11b, transmits information at 11Mbps; 802.11a and 802.11g work at 54Mbps. See the following chart for more detailed information.

Wireless Comparison

Wireless
Technology	802.11b	802.11g	802.11a
Speed	11Mbps	54Mbps	54Mbps
	Common	Common
	household	household
	devices such as	devices such as
	cordless phones	cordless phones	5GHz -
Frequency	and microwave	and microwave	uncrowded
	ovens may	ovens may	band
	interfere with the	interfere with the
	unlicensed band	unlicensed
	2.4 GHz	band 2.4 GHz
	Compatible	Compatible	Incompatible
Compatibility			with 802.11b
	with 802.11g	with 802.11b	or 802.11g
	Depends on	Depends on	Less
			interference -
	interference -	interference -
Range			range is
	typically 100–200	typically 100–200
	ft. indoors	ft. indoors	typically
			50-100 feet
			Slow adoption
	Mature –	Expected to	for consumers -
Adoption		continue to grow	more popular in
	widely adopted
		in popularity	business
			environments
Price	Inexpensive	More expensive	Most expensive

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