Slashdot Mirror
802.11g Approved By IEEE 54 mb/s on 2.4 gigahertz
wavecentral writes "IEEE just approved the 802.11g as the new standard in a vote late Thursday. This enables data transfer rates of up to 54 megabits per sec and works on the 2.4 gigahertz band that 802.11b uses. This in turn makes it compatable and operable between the offical standard." Ewann also writes: "By mid-2002 we should be seeing products based on this technology. Unlike 5 GHz 802.11a, 802.11g is backwards compatible with the huge installed base of 802.11b products. Cool stuff if you want to wirelessly stream video and music in your home. More info on 0211-planet."
802.11a has very short range, which is why Apple did not implement it in its new AirPort products, but chose to wait out for 802.11g, which will offer the same range and backwards-compatibility. As was mentioned, the products probably won't be available until mid-2002. From an ITWorld article: "The range supported from access point to client in an 11M-bit/sec network is about 300 feet. The shorter, wider radio waves in a 5GHz 802.11a LAN, while offering more capacity, transmit only about 90 feet."
"Reality is just a convenient measure of complexity" -Alvy Ray Smith
If anyone can answer any of these questions I'll buy them a beer! the article is decidely fluffy on these details, and a quick google search turned up nothing of value...
1) How does it achieve backwards compatability?
1a) If you throw an 802.11b into an 802.11g network, what impact does it have on performance? i.e. does the 11b drag the network down?
1b) How are broadcast packets sent? (11b or 11g standard?)
2) Is 802.11g more or less resisant to "hostile RF". that 2.4Ghz spectrum is crowded, does 802.11g improve resiliance to interference?
3) How is the range of 802.11g? I understand that the range of 802.11a (the other high speed wireless at 5Ghz) has a much shorter range due largely to the fact that it is at 5Ghz. Does 11g retain the strength of 11b here?
4) What is the security protocol? We all know that WEP in 11b is broken....
If yo uhave the information, please pass it on!
I know I'm opening some deep wounds in the radio community, BUT,
What about the other users of this spectrum?
Sure people can share radio spectrum between themselves, but there's a big difference between a phone sharing with a microwave sharing with a camera, and a world-wide rollout of a million lil radios sharing with a few private weak-signal radio users.
Yea, it's nice they at least move if they find interference, but what about the "hidden transmitter" effect? (I hear him, he don't hear me.) If I'm listening to an amateur radio satellite, and our new friends start up, would I have to move my antenna away (to keep from overloading the sat), key the transmitter, then move the ant back?
What if I can't send out on the signal cuz it's a listening-only frequency?
Awe heck, it'll work itself out anyways.
Sigh.
-Dan
A friend of mine has an Apple Airport set-up, which is 802.11b, in a three story house, and there are dead zones inside the house, on the same floor!
Your buddy in the other building might get some usage, with a high-gain directional antenna on your base station, depending on how well the signal can be reflected.
Or, you could put antennaes on the roof on the south side of both buildings... There are rules to worry about though.
Proxim amd others have complete set-ups for you to try.
Good Luck!
The 5Ghz band does travel much more poorly than 802.11b/g in practice, but as you pointed out there is less interference, which could be beneficial if we ever start to get many hundreds or thousands of wireless users in a building. Many companies are compensating for the 5Ghz range problem by using big gain antennas like the ones that get 802.11b/g 900', which give 802.11a about 300'.
"Reality is just a convenient measure of complexity" -Alvy Ray Smith