Field Guide to Wireless LANs for Administrators and Power Users, A

Chapter 3. Speeds and Feeds

In this chapter, we discuss the Physical (PHY) layer^[1] protocols that have been developed for IEEE 802.11-based WLANs, with the focus on the speeds and throughput that can be achieved by each. The discussion in this chapter covers the PHY-layer protocols that were defined in the following documents:

^[1] Chapter 2 includes a discussion of the OSI-RM, of which the PHY is the lowest layer.

• IEEE 802.11-1999 (the base specification)

• IEEE 802.11a-1999

• IEEE 802.11b-1999

This chapter also covers the work that has just been completed in the IEEE 802.11 Working Group's Task Group “g” (TGg), which has produced a document that is known as IEEE 802.11g-2003. In terms of the speeds at which the IEEE 802.11g-2003 standard operates, ...