Choose the right networking standard

Networking standards: 802.11g | 802.11b | 802.11a | Dual band | Bluetooth | HomePlug | Ethernet Network standards at a glance

802.11g
The 802.11g standard, long touted as the high-performance successor to 802.11b, was ratified in June 2003, but networking manufacturers flooded the market with 802.11g gear months before the final specification was approved as a standard. Most of the gear that was sold prior to ratification will need a firmware upgrade to bring it up to the final spec. 802.11g has two features that many believe will make it the new dominant Wi-Fi standard: great throughput at around 22Mbps and backward compatibility with 802.11b. That's right; 802.11g operates at the same frequency as 802.11b (2.4GHz) and is backward compatible with the granddaddy of Wi-Fi specs. This makes 802.11g the obvious choice not only for anyone building a new network, but also for those interested in adding onto or gradually upgrading a preexisting 802.11b network. The only downside to 802.11g is the fact that it uses a crowded slice of the spectrum, with room for only three nonoverlapping channels. This will make 802.11a a better choice for some environments, especially those populated with devices that share the 2.4GHz spectrum, such as cordless phones, baby monitors, microwave ovens, and Bluetooth radios.

802.11g facts