What is 802.11? Wi-Fi standards and speeds explained
In the world of wireless, the term Wi-Fi is synonymous with wireless access, even though the term Wi-Fi itself (and the Wi-Fi Alliance) is a group dedicated to interoperability between different wireless LAN products and technologies.The standards themselves are part of the 802.11 family of specifications written by the IEEE, eachwith its own letter code after the intial 80211, such as “802.11b” (pronounced “Eight-O-Two-Eleven-Bee”, ignore the “dot”) and “802.11ac”. This alphabet soup that began in the late 1990s continues evolve, with improvements in throughput and range as we race to the future to get faster network access.Along the way, improvements are being made by adopting new frequencies for wireless data delivery, as well as range improvements and reduced power consumption, to help support initiatives like “The Internet of Things” and virtual reality.To read this article in full, please click here