In Europe we don't talk so much about 802.11a. The ETSI defined HiperLAN/1 and /2 instead. We are always talking about geting more data through the air (11, then 20, now 54 MBit/s). Also very important in my view (especially for PWLANs) is the distances one WLAN-antenna can provide with connection. Is there any WLAN-standard that can do more than 100 or theoretically 400 meters, something like 1 km (something less than a mile)?
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you very much in advance!
As you point out, the IEEE 802.11 Wireless LAN series (a,b,g) are all in the sub-100 meter category when used to support indoor WLANs. However, outdoor 802.11 bridges can reach much further ? for example, Cisco estimates that a pair of AIR-BR350 bridges with 13.5 dBi Yagi antennas can reach up to 4.6 kilometers in North America (for a distance calculator, see http://www.cisco.com/warp/public/102/wlan/faq-hardware-us-calc.xls).

There are several wireless broadband technologies that provide high-speed network access over greater distances. For example, LMDS (Local Multipoint Distribution Service) can reach 3-5 miles; MMDS (Multichannel Multipoint Distribution Service) can reach up to 35 miles. You might also want to check out the emerging 802.16 fixed broadband standards being defined by the IEEE (http://www.ieee802.org/16). However, these are "last mile" access link technologies operated in licensed spectrum by public carriers - they are really wireless MAN, not LAN, technologies.

This was first published in August 2002

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