Buying a wireless router can be confounding. Why do they all say 802.11? What is the difference between 802.11g and 802.11n? What on earth does 802.11b/g mean?
Take some time to learn what is behind the mysterious numbers and letters, and you'll find your shopping -- and home networking -- to be much easier, and perhaps cheaper too.
Wi-Fi Standards and the Various Wireless Protocols
802.11 is the set of standards defined by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) for wireless networking devices. These standards are for manufacturers to adhere to, but it's labeled on the box so the consumer knows the product inside follows the required standards. Some use the phrase "Wi-Fi" in place of 802.11
The letter that follows the 802.11 tells you which protocol this device uses. This is very important, as this signifies how the wireless device functions and therefore what wireless cards will work properly with it.
Here's a quick breakdown of the protocols, from oldest to newest:
- 802.11a -- A legacy protocol, meaning it is now considered out of date and would only still exist on older devices, particularly older Macintosh computers with wireless cards. This protocol was faster than its competitor, but had a limited wireless range.
- 802.11b -- Also a legacy protocol, though you're far more likely to encounter 802.11b than 802.11a. Both protocols date back to the late 90s, but this protocol was used widely until the mid-2000s or so, especially on Windows machines. This was a slower protocol, but the signal had a wider range.
- 802.11g -- This protocol was released in 2003, and if you've bought a wireless router or card in the past four years or so, you're likely working with 802.11g. 802.11g combines the best of both 802.11a and 802.11b, taking the speed of 802.11a and the range of 802.11b. 802.11g became the standard for both Mac and PC, and allowed backward compatibility -- meaning if you had an older computer with an 802.11b card, it would still work with your 802.11g router -- albeit at the original slower speed. Using 802.11b in a 802.11g could also reduce the performance of the 802.11g network.
- 802.11n -- The newest protocol, so new it hasn't been ratified. All that means is the IEEE hasn't yet voted and agreed on an official set of standards for 802.11n. This hasn't stopped the major manufacturers from selling 802.11n wireless routers though. Everyone from Linksys to D-Link has an 802.11n router on the market, and most computer equipment stores have drastically reduced the price of the 802.11g routers to introduce the 802.11n. Not all new computers come with an 802.11n card though, so be careful when you decide which router to buy. Like 802.11g, 802.11n is backwards-compatible, with multiple options allowing almost any mix of old and new protocols. However, performance problems remain an issue when mixing protocols within the network. 802.11n is expected to be ratified sometime in 2008.
The Speed of 802.11n
One important thing to know when shopping for a wireless router is that a faster wireless router will not increase the speed of your internet access. 802.11g transfers data at a speed of 54Mbps (at its fastest), about half the speed of a wired Ethernet connection. 802.11n ups that speed to an amazing 248Mbps (again, at its fastest). However, a typical home internet connection is usually less than 10Mbps. A faster wireless router will get the information to your internet connection faster, but your modem will continue to transfer than information at its usual speed.
However, if you frequently transfer files between computers on your network, the speed of the router becomes very important, especially since 802.11 can often be faster than a traditional 100Mbps Ethernet LAN.
