Numbers

3DES

A variant of the Data Encryption Standard (DES), used for encrypting data. The encryption key for 3DES is three times the size of that used for DES. (The same key is used three times.) Also known as "Triple DES."

802.1x

An IEEE standard for port-based network access control. Limits access to the medium (wired or wireless) until the client has been authenticated. Several authentication methods are supported via the Extensible Authentication Protocol (EAP). There are three constructs within an 802.1x system: the supplicant (or client device), the authenticator (the access point or switch), and the authentication server (the server that authenticates the session).

802.11a

An IEEE WLAN standard that defines transmission in the 5-GHz range and provides up to 54-Mbps bandwidth, although actual throughput will always be lower than this. 802.11a uses Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM), which helps provide greater bandwidth. 802.11a is not approved for use in many European countries without additional frequency and power restrictions (as defined by the supplementary 802.11h standard).

802.11b

An IEEE standard that defines transmission in the 2.4-GHz range and provides up to 11-Mbps bandwidth; actual throughput will always be lower than this. 802.11b is the most widely deployed WLAN standard today. It is being replaced by 802.11g, which is backward compatible with 802.11b equipment but can provide greater bandwidth.

802.11c

An IEEE standard, focusing on the MAC layer, that deals with wireless bridging.

802.11d

An IEEE standard that supplements the physical layer requirements (defined in other 802.11 standards), extending the operation of 802.11 WLANs to new regulatory domains (countries). Also known as "worldmode" because it ensures that compliant equipment can work in different countries, not just the United States.

802.11e

An IEEE standard that defines enhancements to the Media Access Control layer to provide quality of service (QoS). QoS is very important for wireless voice and video, but it can also be used to prioritize sensitive traffic.

802.11f

An IEEE standard for Inter Access Point Protocol (IAPP), a specification to promote multivendor access point interoperability. 802.11f is used to support fast client roaming.

802.11g

An IEEE standard that defines transmission in the 2.4-GHz range and provides up to 54-Mbps bandwidth; actual throughput will always be lower than this. The increase in bandwidth over 802.11b (which uses the same frequency range) is achieved by using OFDM (Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing). OFDM allows for more efficient data encoding, which therefore increases available bandwidth. 802.11g is a relatively new standard that is also backward compatible with 802.11b; this feature has dramatically increased its adoption rate within the industry.

802.11h

An IEEE standard that defines two additions to the MAC and PHY layers of 802.11a, allowing the 5-GHz standard to be used in Europe. The enhancements are Dynamic Frequency Selection (DFS) and Transmission Power Control. Both provide more control over the 5-GHz signal, as required by European regulations (CEPT Recommendation ERC 99/23).

802.11i

An IEEE standard that provides for greatly enhanced security. 802.11i provides for dramatically improved data encryption through the use of Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) instead of the older Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP). It also specifies Temporal Key Integrity Protocol (TKIP), an additional method of increasing data integrity. The additional protocols required by 802.11i (AES and TKIP) provide enhanced protection against replay attacks, greatly increased encryption, data integrity checks, and so on.

802.11j

An IEEE standard that specifies extensions for the Japanese market and regulatory requirements.

802.11k

A proposed IEEE standard for radio resource management. 802.11k will improve roaming decisions by sharing information between the access point and the client.

802.11l

There is no 802.11l standard. It was deliberately skipped because the letter L was deemed typographically unsound; it could easily be misread.

802.11m

An IEEE specification that deals with maintenance and administrative issues concerning the other 802.11 standards. It is often referred to as "802.11 housekeeping."

802.11n

A proposed IEEE standard for high-throughput WLANs (with theoretical speeds of over 500 Mbps, although speeds in the range of 100 to 200 Mbps are more likely). 802.11n will provide these much greater speeds through a combination of MIMO (multiple-input multiple-output) and OFDM. MIMO uses multiple transmitter and receiver antennas to provide increased data throughput.

802.11o

A proposed IEEE standard for fast re-authentication. This feature will assist wireless voice services especially, because fast re-authentication improves voice quality when moving from access point to access point while using a WiFi phone.

802.11p

A proposed IEEE standard for using wireless in moving vehicles. 802.11p is also known as WAVE (Wireless Access for the Vehicular Environment) and is planned to interoperate with the DSRC (Dedicated Short Range Communications) industry forum.

802.11q

A proposed IEEE standard for wireless VLAN management. This proposal would allow for standards-based support for multiple VLANs per access point.

802.11r

A proposed IEEE standard for fast roaming. Like fast re-authentication (addressed in the 802.11o proposal), fast roaming is especially important for wireless voice applications and services.

802.11s

A proposed IEEE standard for mesh wireless networks. Mesh wireless networks are made up of many access points that communicate with each other via "wireless self-configuring multi-hop topologies." Put simply, this means that the access points not only provide wireless connectivity to client devices, but also communicate with each other via RF, thereby avoiding the need to cable every access point. Mesh wireless networks are typically deployed in outdoor environments, where coverage is required in large areas and it may be difficult or costly to cable every device.

802.11t

A proposed IEEE standard for producing wireless performance metrics. This will be useful in promoting standardized reporting, trending analysis and statistics, and so on. This effort is also known as WPP (Wireless Performance Prediction).

802.11u

A proposed IEEE standard for interoperability between WLANs and other non-WiFi networks, such as cellular networks. This is also known as WIEN (Wireless Internetworking with External Networks).

802.11v

A proposed IEEE standard for wireless network management, including client device management. This would allow, for example, the access points to configure and manage certain aspects of client behavior.

802.11w

A proposed IEEE standard for introducing "management frame protection." Management frames are transmissions that include important management information and are currently vulnerable to malicious interference. This standard would protect these frames, avoiding interference or attacks that could potentially cause network disruption.

802.11x

There is no 802.11x standard directly, as the letter X is sometimes used to denote a generic value. As such, 802.11x is sometimes used to refer to the entire range of 802.11 standards. Do not confuse this with 802.1X, a separate IEEE standard for port-based network access control. 802.1X is the basis for most enterprise class wireless network security.

802.11y

A proposed IEEE standard to introduce a predictable and "fair" method to share frequency bands or channels in WLANs. This effort is also known as CBP (Contention Based Protocol).

802.11z

There is currently no 802.11z standard.

802.15

The IEEE standard for 2.4-GHz personal-area networks (PAN). 802.15 is better known as Bluetooth. See also Bluetooth.

802.16

The IEEE standard on broadband wireless wide-area networks (WANs). 802.16 works in the 10-to 66-GHz frequency ranges.