Wireless Routers Connect You To The Internet (Part 2)

There are currently two mainstream wireless networking implementations: 802.11b and 802.11g. The first of these to achieve widespread acceptance was 802.11b, operating over the 2.4GHz frequency and capable of up to 11Mbps under ideal conditions. 802.11b can operate at distances up to 300 feet (indoors), though the transfer rate drops as the distance between devices increases. Although the 802.11b standard is a bit dated, for many users its transfer rate is perfectly suitable.

Although 802.11b routers and wireless cards are still commonplace, a newer standard, 802.11g, is rapidly supplanting it. The principal advantage of 802.11g over the 802.11b standard is a higher transfer rate; 802.11g can operate at speeds of up to 54Mbps. The downside to 802.11g is a shorter range: 802.11g can reach approximately 100 feet.

You can use a mix of 802.11b and 802.11g devices in a wireless network, but the speed of the network will drop down to the 802.11b standard. This allows you to upgrade an existing network without having to replace all of your wireless components in one fell swoop.

In addition to the two main wireless implementations, there are several additional ones that are either vendor customizations or standards that never achieved widespread adoption. Many of these will interoperate with the previously mentioned standards, but be sure to check with the vendor before purchasing.

802.11a. Although the 802.11a standard preceded 802.11g by several years, it never achieved the widespread success enjoyed by either 802.11b or 802.11g. 802.11a operates over the 5GHz frequency, with a transfer rate comparable to 802.11g’s 54Mbps. 802.11a has roughly the same range as 802.11g (100 feet) but is more sensitive to interference from walls and other architectural components. Outside of a few early adopters who jumped at that speed increase over 802.11b, the 802.11a routers and other wireless equipment you’ll find are dual systems that include either 802.11b or 802.11g in addition to the 802.11a components.

108G and G Plus MIMO. The 802.11 standard is devised by the IEEE, but wireless vendors aren’t required to hew to this standard. In an effort to boost the speed and range of their wireless offerings, many of these vendors have implemented alternative designs that attempt to leapfrog the current 802.11 standards.

The primary method of achieving higher transmission speeds and distances is by implementing MIMO (Multiple Input/Multiple Output) on network devices. MIMO uses two antennas to make simultaneous 802.11g connections. In theory this offers speeds of up to 108Mbps and ranges approaching 1,000 feet. Although the MIMO technique offers promise, there have been reports that these implementations can interfere with other wireless networks. When the standard is finally codified, 802.11n will replace these esoteric wireless implementations.

Compatibility
Although vendors try to ensure that your wireless components play nicely together, there are some fundamentals that need to be in place before you can mix and match components. Generally speaking, a router using 802.11b should work with any vendor’s 802.11b network cards. The same is true for 802.11g and 802.11a.

On the other hand, mixing components can have serious performance implications, if they work at all. For example, 802.11g is backward compatible with 802.11b; you can use an 802.11g router with 802.11b network cards. But, the transfer rate will be 11Mbps. If you have an 802.11g router, one desktop with an 802.11b network card, and a notebook with an 802.11g card, both the desktop and notebook will transfer data at 11Mbps. The weakest (slowest) link determines the actual throughput.

Most of the MIMO systems are also backward compatible with 802.11b and 802.11g, but 802.11a is incompatible with almost all other 802.11 standards unless you have a dual-band wireless router.

Wireless routers are an affordable way to create a fast network without stringing cables throughout your home. With speeds that dwarf most Internet connections, the current standards provide robust networking wherever you want to use your computer.