Future directions

Development continues in the WLAN community. One of the latest wireless standards is 802.11g. This standard operates on the 2.4-GHz range, along with 802.11b, but at higher speeds. 802.11g runs at the same 54-Mbps speed as 802.11a, and it uses the same OFDM modulation system. It is designed to be backwards compatible with 802.11b clients. Some 802.11b APs will support the higher speed of 802.11g. If additional speed is currently needed, or if the 2.4-GHz frequency is noisy at a given locale, 802.11a 5-GHz technology may be the best option.

Performance will unquestionably continue to improve and customers will continue to require a reliable partner to integrate these dynamic technologies seamlessly into the existing network.

Lab Activity

Lab Exercise: Challenges of Wireless Media

The student will research a topic involved with the future direction and technologies associated with wireless networking.