User's Manual

104

Troubleshooting

What’s the difference between 802.11b, 802.11g, 802.11a,

and Pre-N?

Currently฀there฀are฀four฀levels฀of฀wireless฀networking฀standards,฀which฀

transmit฀data฀at฀very฀different฀maximum฀speeds.฀Each฀is฀based฀on฀

the฀designation฀802.11(x),฀so฀named฀by฀the฀IEEE,฀the฀board฀that฀is฀

responsible฀for฀certifying฀networking฀standards.฀The฀most฀common฀

wireless฀networking฀standard,฀802.11b,฀transmits฀information฀at฀

11Mbps;฀802.11a฀and฀802.11g฀work฀at฀54Mbps฀or฀108Mbps.฀Pre-N,฀

the฀precursor฀to฀the฀upcoming฀802.11n฀release,฀promises฀speeds฀that฀

exceed฀802.11g,฀and฀up฀to฀800%฀the฀wireless฀coverage฀area.฀See฀the฀

following฀chart฀for฀more฀detailed฀information.