802.11 en­com­passes several WLAN standards used in most devices capable of trans­mis­sion. Trans­mis­sion rates and speeds have increased sig­ni­fic­antly since its in­tro­duc­tion in 1997.

What is IEEE 802.11?

At first glance, 802.11 or IEEE 802.11 may not mean much to many users even though we encounter it on a daily basis. The term describes WLAN standards and the access of a medium to the physical layer of a local wireless network. The terms Wireless LAN or Wi-Fi may be more familiar. The 802.11 standard was first published by the Institute of Elec­tric­al and Elec­tron­ics Engineers (IEEE) in 1997 and then got in­teg­rated into various devices. Today, IEEE 802.11 is the best-known and most widely used tech­no­logy for wireless networks. There are several WLAN gen­er­a­tions.

The dif­fer­ence between WLAN and 802.11

Though 802.11 is sometimes used as a synonym for the term ‘WLAN’, that dis­tinc­tion isn’t quite correct. Wireless Local Area Network is a wireless Ethernet, i.e. a local network that doesn’t require cables. To build such a network, the 802.11 standard is required. This defines the physical layer in a local wireless network and enables access to this layer. In principle, it would be possible to use a different tech­no­logy to build a network. However, since IEEE 802.11 is widely used, it’s often referred to as WLAN.

The evolution of IEEE 802.11

Since its in­tro­duc­tion in 1997, 802.11 has con­stantly evolved. Its variants differ, for example, in terms of their trans­mis­sion rates, and some aren’t com­pat­ible with one another. Some WLAN standards are no longer in use today. Although the first variant, called 802.11-1997, re­volu­tion­ised network tech­no­logy back in the day, its maximum data rate of 1 or 2 Mbit per second has been out of date for quite some time. In 2024, the IEEE 802.11be standard will be certified which is supposed to reach 45.1 GBit per second.

WLAN standards compared

There are major dif­fer­ences between the WLAN standards currently in use. Most devices use IEEE 802.11n (also known as Wi-Fi 4), IEEE 802.11ac (Wi-Fi 5) or IEEE 802.11ax (Wi-Fi 6 and 6E, re­spect­ively). Their spe­cific­a­tions are as follows:

IEEE 802.11n (Wi-Fi 4) IEEE 802.11ac (Wi-Fi 5) IEEE 802.11ax (Wi-Fi 6/6E)
The­or­et­ic­al trans­mis­sion rate 300 MBit/s 867 MBit/s 1,200 MBit/s
Max trans­mis­sion rate 600 Mbit/s 6,936 MBit/s 9,608 MBit/s
Reach Up to 100 m Up to 50 m Up to 50 m
Frequency area 2.4 GHZ + 5 GHz 5 GHz 2.4 GHZ + 5 GHz + 6 GHz
Trans­mis­sion and receiving units 4 x 4 8 x 8 8 x 8
Antennas MIMO MU-MIMO MU-MIMO
Channel width Up to 40 MHz Up to 160 MHz Up to 160 MHz
Mod­u­la­tion method 64 QAM 256 QAM 1024 QAM

The trans­mis­sion speeds of 802.11

The maximum trans­mis­sion speeds of the different 802.11 standards also vary. Here’s a list of the common variants compared to the initial standard:

IEEE 802.11 (Wi-Fi 1) IEEE 802.11n (Wi-Fi 4) IEEE 802.11ac (Wi-Fi 5) IEEE 802.11ax (Wi-Fi 6/6E)
Frequency 2.4 GHz 2.4 GHz + 5 GHz 5 GHz 2.4 GHz + 5 GHz + 6 GHz
Streams 1 1, 2, 3, 4 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8
At 20 MHz channel width Up to 2 MBit/s Up to 300 MBit/s - Up to 574 MBit/s
At 40 MHz channel width - Up to 600 MBit/s - Up to 600 MBit/s
At 80 MHz channel width - - Up to 3,400 MBit/s Up to 4,804 MBit/s
At 160 MHz channel width - - Up to 6,936 MBit/s Up to 9,608 MBit/s

Note that maximum transfer rates are rarely achieved. In theory, per­form­ance and the con­di­tions of trans­mis­sions play a role with 802.11. Other networks, long distances, thick walls and ceilings, or other obstacles can severely throttle trans­mis­sion speeds. That means, in reality, rarely half the the­or­et­ic­al rate is achieved. On the other hand, trans­mis­sion according to the 802.11 standard uses a shared channel that is used by several par­ti­cipants at the same time. This also affects the actual speed.

Note

There are several other in­ter­est­ing network standards:

  • IEEE 802.1X: A standard for au­then­tic­a­tion in networks
  • IEEE 802.3af: An option for power supply via Ethernet cable

Find out more about the different network types in our Digital Guide.

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