Which is faster, 802.11a or 802.11b, and what is their capacity?

Which is faster, 802.11a or 802.11b, and what is their capacity?

Which is faster, 802.11a or 802.11b, and what is their capacity?

    Requires Free Membership to View

    By submitting your registration information to SearchNetworking.com you agree to receive email communications from TechTarget and TechTarget partners. We encourage you to read our Privacy Policy which contains important disclosures about how we collect and use your registration and other information. If you reside outside of the United States, by submitting this registration information you consent to having your personal data transferred to and processed in the United States. Your use of SearchNetworking.com is governed by our Terms of Use. You may contact us at webmaster@TechTarget.com.

802.11a operates at data rates up to 54 Mbps; 802.11b has a maximum data rate of 11 Mbps. Actual application throughput is typically about half of the data rate due to overhead. For a more detailed comparison of these two WLAN radio standards, read this searchNetworking tip: Choosing Between 802.11a and 802.11b.

This was first published in August 2004