Newcomer: 802.11g

As mentioned earlier, the 802.11b and 802.11a wireless networking standards are incompatible. Here are a couple of potential issues you should keep in mind when considering 802.11b and 802.11a equipment.

If you already have an 802.11b network, upgrading to 802.11a might mean replacing your existing wireless network adapters to the newer standard. Or you can maintain two wireless networks operating at two different speeds.

The two standards have different ranges. Despite being faster, 802.11a has a shorter range (about 60 feet) and speeds drop off faster than 802.11b as you move equipment away from each other.

A new 802.11 technology helps unify two network standards and make them work better. Here's how.

The proposed 802.11g, like 802.11a, offers a maximum speed of 54 megabits per second. However, unlike 802.11a, 802.11g operates in the 2.4 GHz frequency band , and is compatible with 802.11b.

In Table 5.1 you'll see some of the other networking standards you can choose as well as their benefits and drawbacks.

Table 5.1. Wireless Networking Standards

Standard	Speed	Pros	Cons
HomeRF	10 mbps	Multimedia capabilities	Not as fast as 802.11b, no longer made
802.11b	11 mbps	Ubiquity/Inexpensive	Slower than other wireless technologies
802.11a	54 mbps	Speed	Incompatible with 802.11b
802.11g	54 mbps	Compatible with 802.11b; greater range than 802.11a	Slightly more expensive than the other 802.11 technologies

There are alternatives to RF (radio frequency) technologies such as 802.11 if you want to simply transfer files between two PCs. Infrared technology uses a beam of light to send data between computers. In the next section we'll look at how to quickly connect two computers to trade files using infrared.