Another consideration when selecting a protocol is its overall capacity. Network capacity can be expressed as the throughput multiplied by the number of available channels. Because 802.11g has access to the same three nonoverlapping channels, the only way to increase total capacity is to increase throughput on individual channels. Table A-2 shows approximate network capacities for different Wi-Fi technologies.
As you can see, 802.11b clients have the lowest capacity, whereas 802.11a clients have almost 32 times as much capacity. As you can see in the next section, however, there is a tradeoff in ranges when it comes to these technologies. |