History of Wi-Fi Standards (IEEE 802.11 Protocols Explained)
9Here's a lil essay-like video about the history of Wi-Fi standards, also known as IEEE 802.11. These protocols are why we have Wi-Fi today, and we still use these protocols, and even more are coming in the future. Let me know if you want more educational, type content as well. I learned about these while I got CompTIA A+, and Network+ certifications in school. Anything tech wise, I'm fine to talk about.
This was my first educational type video. How did I do, and what else do you want me to cover?
#technology #internet #education #wifi #ieee
References: (won't fit in description with everything else, so it's in a Google Doc.
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1vCpkMls4IogQw6nDYK9c_jXP6QCT7JOsWHiWMW9wyR8/edit?usp=sharing
Script:
Intro
The electrical and electronics engineers, or IEEE standards for wifi, aka 802.11
are the set of protocols used for wireless local area network communication.
Used to allow devices, like phones, laptops, and printers, among others, to communicate
with each other without wires.
First released in 1997, with revisions still up to today,
these are the standards it has had until now.
Here's a quick question.
What does Wi-Fi stand for?
The answer is at the end of the video.
Also subscribe if you learn something.
802.11-1997
The original, now obsolete, version, released in 1997, and clarified in 1999,
had a maxiumum transfer rate of 2 Megabits per second.
Mostly used on the 2.4 GHz band, but earlier technologies used lower frequencies.
It had forward error correction, as well, to correct any errors during transmission.
802.11a
Published in 1999, and using the same format as the original,
with an added multiplexing interface, used to encode data.
It uses the 5GHz band, with a maximum data rate of 54 Megabits per second,
with error correction, with realistic throughput being around the mid 20s.
It was switched to the 5GHz band because the 2.4GHz band was getting crowded.
The higher frequency doesn't have as much range, and doesn't permeate objects well either.
Still a problem with 5GHz even today.
802.11b
Released around 2000, with a theoretical maximum of 11 Megabits per second,
still uses the same media access method as the original standard.
This was the standard that first went mainstream,
because of the increase of speed vs the original.
Used the 2.4 GHz band, but dealt with more interference,
due to the higher amount of objects around using the 2.4 GHz band.
These things included baby monitors, cordless telephones, bluetooth,
and even microwave ovens.
802.11g
Skipping some letters, we end up at 2003, with the release of 802.11g.
Also uses the 2.4 GHz band, with the same multiplexing as 802.11a.
A theoretical maximum speed of 54 Megabits per second,
and fully backwards compatible with 802.11b devices.
Rapidly adopted afer release due to reduced manufacturing costs,
and desire for faster speeds.
Also gets interference due to the 2.4 GHz band.
802.11n
Released in 2009, this is the standard we still mainly use for the 2.4 GHz band,
but also compatible with the 5GHz band.
It was first drafted in 2006, and retroactively labeled as Wi-Fi 4.
Due to the multiple bands, it has multiple theoretical maximums of
54 Megabits per second in 2.4 GHz mode, and 600 Megabits per second in 5GHz mode.
This standard also added support for multiple input, multiple output antennas, or MIMO,
which allow for multiplying the capacity of a randio link using multiple antennas.
802.11ac
Released in 2013, and building on 802.11n, retroactively known as Wi-Fi 5.
Included wider channels for the 5GHz band, and multi-user MIMO.
In 2016, it was revised with a Wave 2 certification to provide higher bandwidth and capacity.
802.11ad
First available mainly with a TP-Link router in January of 2016,
this is a new physical layer for 802.11 networks, so they operate in the 60 GHz band.
Now known under the name WiGig, it has a maximum transmission rate of 7 Gigabits per second.
With even worse range, than the 5 GHz band.
It isn't too well known, but was first announced in 2009, and added to IEEE 802.11 in 2012.
Outro
There are plenty more standards with even more coming.
Even recently, 802.11ac,s successor 802.11ax was approved early this year.
All of your wireless devices use at least one, and are most likely compatible with multiple.
So here's the answer to the question,
What does Wi-Fi stand for?
It stands for Wireless Fidelity,
which is a generic term for the communication standard for wireless networks.
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