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A general rule for IT departments is no matter how much bandwidth a network offers, users want more. So as soon as the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers completed work on the 802.11b specification, which supports 11 Mbps wireless LAN transmissions, the 802.11 working group began to work on a higher-speed option, 802.11a, which operates at 54 Mbps. However, the migration to the high-speed option hit a few snags. Because of the way vendors designed the new standard, compliant products have been expensive and incompatible with the lower-speed option.
Re: WiFi Standards Compete for Market Dominance
Posted by: wcaswell 2004-02-04 18:51:46 In reply to: Paul Korzeniowski
I wanted 802.11a for my home due to its faster speed and ability to avoid interference, but I found NetGear's dual-band products at a great price after rebate, and I still haven't seen .11g-only products at that price. Here’s what I bought:
· Netgear WAB102 Dual-band Wireless Access Point ($129.90 - $50 rebate = $79.90)
· Netgear WAB501 802.11 a/b Wireless PC Card ($79.90 - $50 rebate = $29.90)
I’ve been quite happy. Setup was easy, even with WEP. Rather than pick a frequency, I let the products decide and let them run in turbo mode.
I put the AP high on a shelf in the home office, which is at the top of a spiral staircase in the middle of the house. When docked, my notebook connects to both Ethernet 100baseT and Wi-Fi. When I undock network traffic shifts to .11a. And at hotspots it uses .11b. PAINLESS!
In my worst-case scenario, signals only go through one floor and one wall with the longest distance being less than 100 feet. Signal strength remains at 60% or better throughout the house and gives me about 72 Mbps of transmit performance and 12 Mbps of receive performance. I've seen no delays opening my largest PowerPoint presentations (over 30 MB) or streaming MPEG4 video. And I’ve noticed no interference, even with my 2.4 GHz Siemens Gigaset phones and Motorola SimpleFi wireless digital audio receiver, which uses the HomeRF standard at 2.4 GHz.
To summarize: Shop around and compare prices but focus on value and consider other tradeoffs. Speaking of tradeoffs, check out my WLAN Buyers Guide at www.cazitech.com/Wireless%20LAN%20Buyers%20Guide.htm.
· Netgear WAB102 Dual-band Wireless Access Point ($129.90 - $50 rebate = $79.90)
· Netgear WAB501 802.11 a/b Wireless PC Card ($79.90 - $50 rebate = $29.90)
I’ve been quite happy. Setup was easy, even with WEP. Rather than pick a frequency, I let the products decide and let them run in turbo mode.
I put the AP high on a shelf in the home office, which is at the top of a spiral staircase in the middle of the house. When docked, my notebook connects to both Ethernet 100baseT and Wi-Fi. When I undock network traffic shifts to .11a. And at hotspots it uses .11b. PAINLESS!
In my worst-case scenario, signals only go through one floor and one wall with the longest distance being less than 100 feet. Signal strength remains at 60% or better throughout the house and gives me about 72 Mbps of transmit performance and 12 Mbps of receive performance. I've seen no delays opening my largest PowerPoint presentations (over 30 MB) or streaming MPEG4 video. And I’ve noticed no interference, even with my 2.4 GHz Siemens Gigaset phones and Motorola SimpleFi wireless digital audio receiver, which uses the HomeRF standard at 2.4 GHz.
To summarize: Shop around and compare prices but focus on value and consider other tradeoffs. Speaking of tradeoffs, check out my WLAN Buyers Guide at www.cazitech.com/Wireless%20LAN%20Buyers%20Guide.htm.
Re: WiFi Standards Compete for Market Dominance
Posted by: Jacomo 2004-01-29 13:25:13 In reply to: Paul Korzeniowski
Would like to initiate a discussion on what I think Intel direction ultimately will be with this whole WLAN business:
COnsider the following:
Intel is building WLAN capability to include:
1. Centrino new 802.11g as well as
2.a most recent announcement on placing an AP functionality on board Laptops and Desk Tops
3. this to include a Meshed network Functionality.
4.Now consider that Intel is a major player in the new 802.15.3a UltraWideband Forum (Teaming with Texas Instruments-MBOFDM) which will come out with a chip that will allow UWB (1-200Mbps over 10-20 Meters)to be placed on Laptops and even better all our desktops-GoodBye Ethernet LANS when combined with Meshed Networks.
5. Next step is their investment in the 802.16a WIMAX standard Fixed Broadband Wireless standard that will allow them to extend WLAN out in the MAN/WAN.
However, it is the prospect of having a UWB Meshed Network of PC's (Set Top Boxes and or TV with UWB Chips in homes)that will eventually rule this whole market.
Then the FCC will be forced to open up the UWB spectrum to allow long reach MAN/WAN Networks to compete for Wireline and Wireless Carrier/Cell Nets.
Intel will rule
Jacomo
COnsider the following:
Intel is building WLAN capability to include:
1. Centrino new 802.11g as well as
2.a most recent announcement on placing an AP functionality on board Laptops and Desk Tops
3. this to include a Meshed network Functionality.
4.Now consider that Intel is a major player in the new 802.15.3a UltraWideband Forum (Teaming with Texas Instruments-MBOFDM) which will come out with a chip that will allow UWB (1-200Mbps over 10-20 Meters)to be placed on Laptops and even better all our desktops-GoodBye Ethernet LANS when combined with Meshed Networks.
5. Next step is their investment in the 802.16a WIMAX standard Fixed Broadband Wireless standard that will allow them to extend WLAN out in the MAN/WAN.
However, it is the prospect of having a UWB Meshed Network of PC's (Set Top Boxes and or TV with UWB Chips in homes)that will eventually rule this whole market.
Then the FCC will be forced to open up the UWB spectrum to allow long reach MAN/WAN Networks to compete for Wireline and Wireless Carrier/Cell Nets.
Intel will rule
Jacomo
Re: WiFi Standards Compete for Market Dominance
Posted by: Jacomo 2004-01-29 12:57:20 In reply to: Paul Korzeniowski
802.11a is not only NOT DEAD it will surface as an integrated dual band 802.11g & a chip that when placed on a Dual Radio (Dual Chip/Radio ) AP/Bridge will dominate the AP business. By combining these two standards on one chip we not only allow a diverse functionality (g is great for long reach limited to 3 channels and is interference prone)(a is great for more channels 12 vs 3, meaning more users can share the 54 mbps in congested high traffic areas).
The 5Ghz (802.11a) spectrum is also nowhere near as congested and therefore will be more clear (interference) for for high traffic areas.
Jacomo
The 5Ghz (802.11a) spectrum is also nowhere near as congested and therefore will be more clear (interference) for for high traffic areas.
Jacomo
Re: WiFi Standards Compete for Market Dominance
Posted by: mfinneran 2004-01-28 16:45:47 In reply to: Paul Korzeniowski
This paragraph is inaccurate. Here's the edited version:
"When vendors began work on 802.11a, they did not
want to stay in the 2.4-GHz range used with 802.11b [AND 802.11G]
Products. The spectrum at 2.4 GHz is a shared
Frequency [AS IS THE 5 GHZ U-NII BAND], so devices like cordless telephones and microwave ovens can create interference problems [MICROWAVE OVENS HAVE TO STAY IN THE 2.4 GHZ RANGE BASED ON THE RESONANT FREQUENCY OF WATER. THERE ARE 5 GHZ CORDLESS PHONES]. Also, the vendors are able to squeeze out only about five channels [IN THE US 2.4 GHZ BAND GOES FROM 2.4 TO 2.4835 GHZ, A BANDWIDTH OF 83.5 MHZ- 802.11B CHANNELS TAKE ABOUT 26 MHZ SO THERE ARE
3 NON-INTERFERING CHANNELS 1, 6, AND 11]-- or simultaneous user connections [NO, NOT "USER CONNECTIONS", SEPARATE WLANS. MULTIPLE USERS SHARE A WIRELESS LAN]-- in this range, which relies on direct-sequence spread-spectrum technology, a signaling ["RADIO TRANSMISSION"] technique that places a premium on security and reliability while sacrificing efficient use of available bandwidth."
[IN CDMA-BASED CELLULAR NETWORKS (E.G. SPRINT AND VERIZON), DSSS INCLUDES AN INTEGRATED ENCRYPTION SYSTEM BASED ON PSEUDO-RANDOM NUMBER (PN) CODES THAT RESULTS IN A HIGHLY SECURE RADIO LINK. THAT'S NOT DONE IN 802.11B. WLANS DEPEND ON ENCRYPTING THE SIGNAL BEOFRE IT'S MODULATED USING A TECHNIQUE LIKE WEP'S RC4 OR AES (I.E. 802.11i). IN ESSENCE, THE 802.11A/B/ AND G RADIO LINKS HAVE EXACTLY THE SAME INHERENT LEVEL OF SECURITY]
IT CONTINUES:
"In the late 1990s [1997], the Federal Communications Commission opened up
A new [UNLICENSED] frequency range -- the 5-GHz range -- that is only available for wireless LANs, so there is no outside interference [WRONG- IT'S "UNLICENSED", ANYONE CAN USE IT]. Also, it uses orthogonal frequency division multiplexing for modulation [NO- THE "5 GHZ BAND" DOESN'T USE OFDM, THE 802.11A RADIO LINK DOES. YOU SEE. 802.11G ALSO USES THE SAME OFDM MODULATION IN THE 2.4 GHZ BAND], which increases bandwidth efficiency [THAT'S ACTUALLY CORRECT] so an access point can support about 10 simultaneous connections [IF YOU MEAN THAT THERE ARE 12 NON-INTERFERING WLAN CHANNELS IN THE 5 GHZ BAND YOU'RE ONLY OFF BY 20%. AN "ACCESS POINT" ONLY SUPPORTS ONE WLAN WHICH OPERATES ON ONE CHANNEL. THE NUMBER OF "SIMULTANEOUS USERS" DEPENDS ON THEIR TRAFFIC LOAD AND REQUIREMENT FOR PERFORMANCE].
The bottom line is that the advantage of 802.11a's 12 channels (versus 3 for 802.11b or g) will be the critical factor for enterprise users. The 2.4 GHz options will remain the technology of choice for the residential market (i.e. Sony's adoption is an anomaly), and the 5 GHz band will be used by enterprise users. The products will catch up- take it to the bank.
"When vendors began work on 802.11a, they did not
want to stay in the 2.4-GHz range used with 802.11b [AND 802.11G]
Products. The spectrum at 2.4 GHz is a shared
Frequency [AS IS THE 5 GHZ U-NII BAND], so devices like cordless telephones and microwave ovens can create interference problems [MICROWAVE OVENS HAVE TO STAY IN THE 2.4 GHZ RANGE BASED ON THE RESONANT FREQUENCY OF WATER. THERE ARE 5 GHZ CORDLESS PHONES]. Also, the vendors are able to squeeze out only about five channels [IN THE US 2.4 GHZ BAND GOES FROM 2.4 TO 2.4835 GHZ, A BANDWIDTH OF 83.5 MHZ- 802.11B CHANNELS TAKE ABOUT 26 MHZ SO THERE ARE
3 NON-INTERFERING CHANNELS 1, 6, AND 11]-- or simultaneous user connections [NO, NOT "USER CONNECTIONS", SEPARATE WLANS. MULTIPLE USERS SHARE A WIRELESS LAN]-- in this range, which relies on direct-sequence spread-spectrum technology, a signaling ["RADIO TRANSMISSION"] technique that places a premium on security and reliability while sacrificing efficient use of available bandwidth."
[IN CDMA-BASED CELLULAR NETWORKS (E.G. SPRINT AND VERIZON), DSSS INCLUDES AN INTEGRATED ENCRYPTION SYSTEM BASED ON PSEUDO-RANDOM NUMBER (PN) CODES THAT RESULTS IN A HIGHLY SECURE RADIO LINK. THAT'S NOT DONE IN 802.11B. WLANS DEPEND ON ENCRYPTING THE SIGNAL BEOFRE IT'S MODULATED USING A TECHNIQUE LIKE WEP'S RC4 OR AES (I.E. 802.11i). IN ESSENCE, THE 802.11A/B/ AND G RADIO LINKS HAVE EXACTLY THE SAME INHERENT LEVEL OF SECURITY]
IT CONTINUES:
"In the late 1990s [1997], the Federal Communications Commission opened up
A new [UNLICENSED] frequency range -- the 5-GHz range -- that is only available for wireless LANs, so there is no outside interference [WRONG- IT'S "UNLICENSED", ANYONE CAN USE IT]. Also, it uses orthogonal frequency division multiplexing for modulation [NO- THE "5 GHZ BAND" DOESN'T USE OFDM, THE 802.11A RADIO LINK DOES. YOU SEE. 802.11G ALSO USES THE SAME OFDM MODULATION IN THE 2.4 GHZ BAND], which increases bandwidth efficiency [THAT'S ACTUALLY CORRECT] so an access point can support about 10 simultaneous connections [IF YOU MEAN THAT THERE ARE 12 NON-INTERFERING WLAN CHANNELS IN THE 5 GHZ BAND YOU'RE ONLY OFF BY 20%. AN "ACCESS POINT" ONLY SUPPORTS ONE WLAN WHICH OPERATES ON ONE CHANNEL. THE NUMBER OF "SIMULTANEOUS USERS" DEPENDS ON THEIR TRAFFIC LOAD AND REQUIREMENT FOR PERFORMANCE].
The bottom line is that the advantage of 802.11a's 12 channels (versus 3 for 802.11b or g) will be the critical factor for enterprise users. The 2.4 GHz options will remain the technology of choice for the residential market (i.e. Sony's adoption is an anomaly), and the 5 GHz band will be used by enterprise users. The products will catch up- take it to the bank.
