Wi-Fi Standards and their differences

Wi-Fi wireless technology has been improving for over twenty years. During this time many standards have emerged, in one way or another used on cell phones, smartphones, tablets and consumer electronics. This article will help you understand how the different standards differ, which one is the fastest.

The Wireless Fidelity protocol   was developed, terrifyingly think, in 1996. Initially, it provided the user with a minimum data transfer rate. But after about three years, new Wi-Fi standards were introduced. They increased the speed of receiving and transmitting data, and also slightly increased the width of the shell. Each new version of the protocol is marked with one or two Latin letters after the numbers  802.11  . Some Wi-Fi standards are highly specialized – they have never been used on smartphones. We will only discuss the versions of the data transfer protocol that ordinary users need to know about.

Wi-Fi

The first standard had no letter designation. He was born in 1996 and was used for about three years. Data in the air when using this protocol was downloaded at a speed of 1 Mbit / s. According to modern standards, it is very small. Remember, however, that access to “large” Internet from mobile devices was excluded at that time. In those years, even WAP was not really developed, in which websites rarely weighed more than 20 Kb.

In general, nobody appreciated the benefits of the new technology. The standard was used for specific purposes – for debugging hardware, remote computer settings and other complexities. Ordinary users at that time could only dream of a cell phone, and the words “wireless data transmission” became clear to them only a few years later.

However, low popularity did not prevent the development of the protocol. Gradually, devices began to appear that increased the power of the data transmission module. Speed ​​with the same Wi-Fi version doubled – to 2 Mbit / s. But it was clear that this is the limit. Therefore, the  Wi-Fi Alliance  (an association of several large companies established in 1999) had to develop a new standard that would provide higher throughput.

802.11a Wi-Fi

The first creation of the Wi-Fi Alliance was the 802.11a protocol, which also did not become popular. The difference was that the technique could use the 5 GHz frequency. As a result, the data transfer rate increased to 54 Mb / s. The problem was that at an earlier frequency of 2.4 GHz this standard was incompatible. As a result, manufacturers had to install a dual transceiver to work on both frequencies. Needless to say, it’s not a compact solution at all?

This version of the protocol has almost never been used on smartphones and cell phones. This is explained by the fact that after about a year a much more convenient and popular solution came out.

Wi-Fi 802.11b

During the design of this protocol, the developers returned to the frequency of 2.4 GHz, which has an undeniable advantage – a wide area of ​​coverage. Engineers managed to ensure that the gadgets learned to send data at a speed of 5.5 to 11 Mbit / s. All routers immediately began to receive support for this standard. Gradually, such Wi-Fi began to appear in popular mobile devices. For example, the Nokia E65 smartphone boasts support as one of the first. Importantly, the Wi-Fi Alliance ensures compliance with the first version of the standard, due to which the transition period was completely unnoticed.

By the end of the first decade of the 2000s, the 802.11b protocol was used by many technicians. They were provided with sufficient speed and smartphones, as well as portable game consoles and laptops. This protocol is supported by almost all modern smartphones. This means that if you have a very old router in your room that cannot send a signal using more modern versions of the protocol, the smartphone still recognizes the network. Although the speed of data transfer will certainly be unhappy, because now we use very different speed standards.

Wi-Fi 802.11g

As you can see, this version of the protocol is backwards compatible. This is explained by the fact that the operating frequency has not changed. In this case, engineers managed to increase the speed of receiving and sending data to 54 Mbit / s. The standard was released in 2003. For some time this speed seemed even excessive, so many manufacturers of mobile phones and smartphones were slow to implement. Why do we need such a fast data transfer if the amount of internal memory of mobile devices was often limited to 50-100 MB, and full-fledged websites on the small screen simply were not displayed? Nevertheless, the protocol gradually gained popularity, mainly thanks to laptops.

Wi-Fi 802.11n

The largest standard update was in 2009. The 802.11n Wi-Fi protocol was born. At this point, smartphones have already learned how to display high-quality Internet content, so the new standard was very useful. The differences from its predecessors consisted of increased speed and theoretical support for the 5 GHz frequency (also 2.4 GHz did not disappear). For the first time, support for MIMO technology was introduced into the protocol   .. It consists in supporting the reception and transmission of data simultaneously on several channels (in this case on two). Theoretically, this achieved a speed of 600 Mb / s. In practice, it rarely exceeded 150 Mb / s. This was due to interference in the signal path from the router to the receiving device, and many routers were deprived of MIMO support to save money. Like budget devices, it was still not possible to work at 5 GHz. Their creators explained that at this point the 2.4 GHz frequency was not yet heavily loaded, which is why router buyers did not really lose anything.

By default, 802.11n Wi-Fi is still actively used. Although many users have already noticed many of its shortcomings. First, because of the 2.4 GHz frequency, they are not supported by a combination of more than two channels, so that the theoretical speed limit will never be achieved. Secondly, in hotels, shopping malls and other crowded places, channels are starting to overlap, causing interference – websites and content are loading very slowly. All these problems have decided to release the following standard.

802.11ac Wi-Fi

At the time of this writing, the latest and fastest protocol. If the previous types of Wi-Fi worked mainly at 2.4 GHz, which has many restrictions, then 5 GHz is strictly used here. Almost reduced the width of the coating by half. However, router manufacturers solve this problem by installing directional antennas. Each of them sends a signal in its own direction. However, for some people it still seems uncomfortable for the following reasons:

• Routers are cumbersome because they contain four or even more antennas;
• It is recommended to install the router somewhere in the middle between all supported objects;
• 802.11ac Wi-Fi routers consume more electricity than old and low end models.

The main advantage of the new standard is a tenfold increase in speed and increased support for MIMO technology. You can now connect up to eight channels! As a result, the theoretical data flow is 6.93 Gbit / s. In practice, the speed is much lower, but even they are enough to watch a 4K video online on the device.

For some people, the possibilities of the new standard seem unnecessary. Therefore, many manufacturers do not implement support in budget smartphones. The protocol is not always supported, and even quite expensive devices. For example, Samsung Galaxy A5 (2016) is devoid of support, which even after lowering the price can not be attributed to the budget segment. Determining what Wi-Fi standards your smartphone or tablet supports is fairly easy. To do this, look at its full specifications on the Internet or run one of the tests.