Lurk
05-13-2009, 12:47 AM
The 802.11 Standard
802.11a - I know this is a and that it comes first in the alphabet, but this is actually faster than both b and g networks. This is basically wireless g running on the 5GHz band.
802.11b - This was the first consumer 802.11 standard. If you remember, this was the early stuff when home wireless networking started to boom.
802.11g - This came later, probably around 2003 or so, I don't really recall, but it's pretty much the dominant standard right now. Running at 54 mb/sec on the 2.4GHz band.
802.11n - This is a draft standard, it's not really finalized yet. This is the newer and more expensive stuff you'll find. It goes up to around 5 times faster than 802.11g around 300 mb/sec on the 5GHz band.
Performance of WiFi Networks
Most wireless devices you'll see around in homes today are wireless 802.11g. Note that your WiFi will only perform as fast as the slowest device on the network. For example if you have an 802.11n router, unless you only have n devices, your network won't be magically faster. For example if you have a laptop that has an 802.11n card and another laptop using an 802.11g card on the same network, it'll be brought down to the speed of 802.11g. I'll get around to explaining how to overcome problems like this in a later section. Yes, there is a way around this limitation!
The 802.11n Standard Explained
There are some really cheap 802.11n equipment out there now and it's actually pretty common. You'll see most of the newer routers and networking equipment in the 802.11n standard. Most wireless n routers you'll see will be touting the 5x faster speed and maybe even further range than the older 802.11g standard. This isn't entirely true. It's only up to 5x faster when it's on 5GHz 802.11n only mode with maximum multicast rates and it. It also only has further range when it's in 2.4GHz mode only. If you chose the 5GHz band, there's less interference and it has a higher frequency and speed, but this is at the sacrifice of range. The higher frequency of the band decreases the range of the router. And you guessed it, the 2.4GHz band has a further range at the sacrifice of the 5x faster speed.
Also note that older 802.11b/g equipment will not be able to recieve a 5GHz 802.11n only connection. 802.11n routers are backwards compatible, but remember as I stated above that should there be at least one device running on the slower standard, the performance of the entire network will be brought down to its level.
Dual Band Routers
A dual band router is simply a router that can run at 2.4GHz and 5Ghz bands. In most cases a dual band router can run both bands simultaneously. This is your answer to killing the multiple device performance issue. This would allow older hardware to connect to the 2.4GHz band while the newer hardware can connect to the 5GHz band without performance decreases. Also, when your hardware moves out of range of the 5Ghz band, it'll also automatically switch to the 2.4Ghz band. These tend to be more expensive than the standard router, but they will go a long way. In my opinion, these are must buys.
Before purchasing your router, double check to see if it can support both 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands simultaneously.
DIY Dual Band WiFi
If you've realized your hardware isn't running up to speed because you're not on dual band and you still have your old router, you're in luck. You will be running on two different SSIDs to pull this off, but it's definitely better than not getting the expected performance you'd expect for your money. Some users do, however, prefer this because of its versatility. Basically, how this works out is you plug in your wireless n router as you do normally, which is plugging in your modem into its wan port. The difference is you're going to configure this to run on 802.11n 5GHz band only with no backwards compatibility. You'll also be running an ethernet cable from one of the switch's ports to your older router's wan port.
Your newer 802.11n hardware can connect to the 802.11n router at maximum speed while your older hardware will be connected to the 802.11b/g router without bringing down 802.11n performance. You can also test you've set this up right by attempting to connect an older 802.11b/g only device to the 802.11n router. If it fails to connect, you've set it up correctly.
Third party firmware
If you're a little more tech savvy, you could set up third party firmware on your router (if it's compatible, of course). With the features you can get with most firmware, you're essentially getting a router with features worth hundreds of dollars more than what you've paid for. You're also squeezing out every little bit of performance you can possibly get from your router. I'm not going to go too in depth on this one in this article. You can check out third party firmware here: DD-WRT :: News (http://dd-wrt.com/dd-wrtv3/index.php)
802.11a - I know this is a and that it comes first in the alphabet, but this is actually faster than both b and g networks. This is basically wireless g running on the 5GHz band.
802.11b - This was the first consumer 802.11 standard. If you remember, this was the early stuff when home wireless networking started to boom.
802.11g - This came later, probably around 2003 or so, I don't really recall, but it's pretty much the dominant standard right now. Running at 54 mb/sec on the 2.4GHz band.
802.11n - This is a draft standard, it's not really finalized yet. This is the newer and more expensive stuff you'll find. It goes up to around 5 times faster than 802.11g around 300 mb/sec on the 5GHz band.
Performance of WiFi Networks
Most wireless devices you'll see around in homes today are wireless 802.11g. Note that your WiFi will only perform as fast as the slowest device on the network. For example if you have an 802.11n router, unless you only have n devices, your network won't be magically faster. For example if you have a laptop that has an 802.11n card and another laptop using an 802.11g card on the same network, it'll be brought down to the speed of 802.11g. I'll get around to explaining how to overcome problems like this in a later section. Yes, there is a way around this limitation!
The 802.11n Standard Explained
There are some really cheap 802.11n equipment out there now and it's actually pretty common. You'll see most of the newer routers and networking equipment in the 802.11n standard. Most wireless n routers you'll see will be touting the 5x faster speed and maybe even further range than the older 802.11g standard. This isn't entirely true. It's only up to 5x faster when it's on 5GHz 802.11n only mode with maximum multicast rates and it. It also only has further range when it's in 2.4GHz mode only. If you chose the 5GHz band, there's less interference and it has a higher frequency and speed, but this is at the sacrifice of range. The higher frequency of the band decreases the range of the router. And you guessed it, the 2.4GHz band has a further range at the sacrifice of the 5x faster speed.
Also note that older 802.11b/g equipment will not be able to recieve a 5GHz 802.11n only connection. 802.11n routers are backwards compatible, but remember as I stated above that should there be at least one device running on the slower standard, the performance of the entire network will be brought down to its level.
Dual Band Routers
A dual band router is simply a router that can run at 2.4GHz and 5Ghz bands. In most cases a dual band router can run both bands simultaneously. This is your answer to killing the multiple device performance issue. This would allow older hardware to connect to the 2.4GHz band while the newer hardware can connect to the 5GHz band without performance decreases. Also, when your hardware moves out of range of the 5Ghz band, it'll also automatically switch to the 2.4Ghz band. These tend to be more expensive than the standard router, but they will go a long way. In my opinion, these are must buys.
Before purchasing your router, double check to see if it can support both 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands simultaneously.
DIY Dual Band WiFi
If you've realized your hardware isn't running up to speed because you're not on dual band and you still have your old router, you're in luck. You will be running on two different SSIDs to pull this off, but it's definitely better than not getting the expected performance you'd expect for your money. Some users do, however, prefer this because of its versatility. Basically, how this works out is you plug in your wireless n router as you do normally, which is plugging in your modem into its wan port. The difference is you're going to configure this to run on 802.11n 5GHz band only with no backwards compatibility. You'll also be running an ethernet cable from one of the switch's ports to your older router's wan port.
Your newer 802.11n hardware can connect to the 802.11n router at maximum speed while your older hardware will be connected to the 802.11b/g router without bringing down 802.11n performance. You can also test you've set this up right by attempting to connect an older 802.11b/g only device to the 802.11n router. If it fails to connect, you've set it up correctly.
Third party firmware
If you're a little more tech savvy, you could set up third party firmware on your router (if it's compatible, of course). With the features you can get with most firmware, you're essentially getting a router with features worth hundreds of dollars more than what you've paid for. You're also squeezing out every little bit of performance you can possibly get from your router. I'm not going to go too in depth on this one in this article. You can check out third party firmware here: DD-WRT :: News (http://dd-wrt.com/dd-wrtv3/index.php)