Pick A Standard: Wireless Standards

Wireless gear using the family of 802.11 standards still rules. But new flavors are beginning to push out Wi-Fi in favor of WiMax and variations that support roaming and connections at faster speeds. Wireless technology has advanced quickly in recent years, but the best is yet to come. Unfortunately, it takes a scorecard to keep the various standards straight. At the moment, wireless gear using the family of 802.11 standards still rules. But new flavors are beginning to push out Wi-Fi, the popular wireless service available in a growing number of hotels, coffee shops, and city parks. The 802.11g standard, approved last June, is commonly supported in hardware already on the market. It works in the same 2.4-GHz band as Wi-Fi (802.11b) but offers speeds of up to 54 Mbps, compared with Wi-Fi's 11 Mbps.

Other 802.11 standards are still in development. In January, the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers revealed 802.11n, a standard that will reach speeds of up to 100 Mbps, offer better security, and operate over longer distances. The standard should be approved by the end of 2005.

WiMax, short for Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access, is the name for the 802.16 family of wireless services, an emerging standard that, for now, is being aimed at carriers for use in metropolitan area networks. It offers tremendous range--up to 30 miles--and speeds of up to 70 Mbps.

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