Today, the Internet is a fundamental element in the daily life of human beings. As, practically all activities have been coupled to the virtual world and therefore currently the fact of having a good Internet connection in the houses is essential.
However, beyond Internet connections based on wired networks, the has become the main data transmission technology in a . Especially, because it shows the ability to reach the most remote and complex areas, where cannot establish a wired connection.
Therefore, it is valuable to know the most relevant details of this type of connection and, above all, discern how it works. Besides that, it is also worth knowing what are all the frequencies and standards that exist and how they can influence your connection to the network. Which, we will explain below.
How does a WiFi network work to share a wireless signal?
Basically, a WiFi network works through radio waves, just as television and mobile telephony do. That is, transmit data over the air by a type of electromagnetic radiation with wavelengths in the electronic spectrum longer than infrared light itself. Now, in such a way, the wireless adapter card of a certain computer transforms the data into radio signals that are directed from an antenna.
After that, the router or router receives these binary code signals and decodes them and then send the information to Internet through one or cable. It should be noted that, thanks to the fact that a WiFi connection is bidirectionalThis process it also works in reverse.
Which means that the wired Ethernet device transmits the information to a wireless router and said router is in charge of translating the signals in order to send them to the adapter card of the computer. For its part, the radio waves used by a WiFi network, usually operate through frequencies and this means that it is a wireless data transmission technology that It is based on various types of frequency that allow more or less data to be delivered, depending on its nature..
So, generally, the Wifi uses frequencies of 2.4GHz or 5.8GHz and, apart from that, they have a specific standard that is in charge of determine the quality of connectivity and its performance. Considering that, all start from the initial standard 802.11.
How does the standard of my WiFi network influence the quality of my Internet connection?
Although it is true, at present, there are different standards that have been implemented over time, in order to optimize the connectivity of a WiFi network and increase its performance. Reason why, it is a parameter that is intended to improve quality of service at the data link layer level.
Therefore, with respect to its influence, we highlight that the more modern the standard used by the WiFi network, the greater bandwidth will have and thus, it will show an optimal speed. On the contrary, if an older standard is used, the speeds obtained to navigate will be minor and, therefore, the operation of the WiFi connection will be truncated by a great slowness.
This means that, for example, if the first standard will only allow speeds between 30Mpbs and 50 Mbpsthe most current wireless network standards will be able to overcome the 500 Mbps barrier and even reach 1Gpbs. Thus revealing an amazing speed when browsing the net.
List of all the frequencies and standards of wireless networks that exist
Now, to know in more detail the operation of a WiFi wireless network through its standards and types of frequency, we proceed to specify What are they and what does each of these standards consist of? and, additional to that, we will point out the frequencies they use.
Go for it:
802.11 standard
It was introduced during the year 1997 and refers to to the first transmission standard with WiFi technology which has the name, specifically, “IEEE 802.11”. Which establishes the lower levels of the OSI model for wireless connections that use electromagnetic waves. A) Yes, in theory, it accepted up to 2 Mbit/s maximum speed and in practice, it only provided a total of 1 Mbit/s.
Therefore, it is a standard that revealed a navigation speed very slow for most applications. However, at the time, it was completely solid to work at what would be one of the best standards in the industry. On the other hand, it should be noted that brings together a family made up of: IEEE 802.1 for LAN connections, IEEE 802.3 for Ethernet connections over LAN, IEEE 802.11 for wireless connections over WiFi, and IEEE 802.15 for Bluetooth connections.
802.11a standard
Also It is called “WiFi 5” and is characterized, mainly, by using radio signals of 5GHz, taking into account that it provides eight radio channels in the band of this frequency. Added to this, it admits a greater bandwidth than the previous one, thanks to the fact that provides a maximum throughput of 54 Mbps that, in practice, is about 30 Mbps.
For its part, it is worth noting that, East type of standard was developed at the same time as 802.11b and, although the latter was less popular at first, it gained more popularity in homes thanks to the fact that offered greater range than 802.11a.
802.11b standard
As we mentioned earlier, it is a standard that was created at the same time as 802.11a. Regarding its main particularities, we highlight that, compared to the original standard that only provided speeds of 2 Mbit/s, it has the capacity to reach up to 11 Mbit/s in theory and 6 Mbit/s in practice. Also, uses the 2.4 GHz frequency with three available radio channels.
Thus, its scope is greater than the previous one and, therefore, offers coverage up to 300 meters in open space. However, its introduction was not without problems, since the 2.4 GHz frequency was not regulated and, unfortunately, it generated interference.
802.11g standard
It is a standard that combines the best of 802.11a and 802.11b, given that, reaches a speed of up to 54 Mbit/s and uses the 2.4 GHz frequency. Therefore, it provides optimal coverage of up to 460 meters. Additionally, it has the advantage of being compatible with 802.11b so that new 802.11g-based devices can connect to routers or access points that broadcast 802.11b. It should be noted that, It was introduced in the year 2003.
802.11n standard
Starting in 2009, this modern standard for wireless networks became known, leading to one of the most important changes. Because, marked a turning point in technology by inducing MIMO networks. Which are characterized by using several antennas in the same router to send and receive data simultaneously.
Consequently, it is a standard that manages to speed up the connection remarkably, since offers a theoretical speed of 600 Mbit/s and a practical speed of 100 Mbit/s. Apart from that, through 802.11n, coverage was optimized, reaching 300 meters outdoors and 120 meters indoors. even work both with 2.4 GHz and 5.4 GHz frequencies.
802.11ac standard
This is the most widely used standard in current routers, which was implemented in 2014 and It is characterized by using components that consume less energy. In addition, it uses “beamforming” technology, which focuses radio signals so that they travel further and can pass through walls. Therefore, although it uses the 5.4 GHz band and its coverage radius is smaller, its range at greater distances is completely optimal.
In addition to that, it provides a theoretical speed of 6.93 Gbps and its practical speed reaches 100 Mbit/s. However, it can be much faster because it uses wider radio channels and uses up to four antennasthus surpassing the nature of current routers that transfer six data streams at the same time just using three antennas.
802.11ad standard
After 802.11ac, a new standard was implemented that adopted the name “802.11ad”. This is rarely used at present, since it offers a shorter range compared to its predecessor and, therefore, it is also little known in the industry.
Nevertheless, manages to reach theoretical speeds of 7.13 Gbit/s and practical speeds of up to 6 Gbit/s. Which, although it may seem contradictory with respect to its minimal use, is due to the fact that users still do not require speeds higher than those provided by the 802.11ac standard. Added to that, it is also characterized by operating in 60 GHz bands and offers a range no greater than 300 meters.
802.11ah standard
Also Known As “IEEE 802.11ah” or “Wi-Fi HaLow”consists of a new wireless network protocol that began to be implemented in 2016. Which, provides a range of up to 1,000 meters and has a bandwidth of 2 MHz.
Thus, basically, it is a standard that is born from the constant requirements of technology, the market and information. Therefore, unlike the other types, it uses frequencies less than 1 GHz and thus, it manages to increase the range of reach. Thanks to this, it is a great solution for distribution in rural areas by simply using cell towers with sensors to share the signal. It should be noted that, apart from everything, is a protocol that competes with the popular Bluetooth.
On the other hand, in order to summarize all the information previously exposed, it is necessary to reveal the most interesting data of each of the WiFi network standards from an explanatory table such as the one we present below:
STANDARD TYPE
FREQUENCY
THEORETICAL SPEED
PRACTICAL SPEED
BANDWIDTH
SCOPE
802.11
2.4 GHz 2 Mbit/s 1 Mbit/s 22 MHz 330 meters
802.11a
5.4 GHz 54 Mbit/s 22 Mbit/s 20 MHz 390 meters
802.11b
2.4 GHz 11 Mbit/s 6 Mbit/s 22 MHz 460 meters
802.11g
2.4 GHz 54 Mbit/s 22 Mbit/s 20 MHz 460 meters
802.11n
2.4 GHz and 5.4 GHz 600 Mbit/s 100 Mbit/s 20/40 MHz 820 meters
802.11ac
5.4 GHz 6.93 Gbps 1300 Mbps From 80 to 160 MHz It is a standard without interference but with less range, although there are technologies that extend it
802.11ad
60 GHz 7.13 Gbit/s 6 Gbit/s 2 MHz 300 meters
802.11ah
0.9 GHz 35.6 Mbps on 8 MHz bandwidth channel 26.7 Mbps on 6 and 7 MHz bandwidth channels 2 MHz 1 km
What is the most powerful wireless network with the best connection speed?
Now, after all, surely you will wonder What is the most powerful wireless network standard with the best connection speed that exists?, Until now. Because, although many of them show excellent performance, not all of them are truly optimal to have an excellent Internet connection at any time.
In this sense, we can…
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