Original subtitles

Wireless networks have become almost commonplace in our homes and businesses.

And we've almost come to expect that when we walk into a restaurant

or a conference room, that there will be a wireless network available to use.

The standards

for these wireless networks come from an I Tripoli Land Man Standards Committee.

This is the IO2 committee and the wireless networking

part of this committee is the 802 11 standard.

But as you're probably aware, there are many different

wireless standards.

And in this video we'll step through each one of those 802.11 standards

instead of referring to these as 802 11 wireless networks.

You'll often see this abbreviated as a Wi-Fi network.

This is a trademark from the Wi-Fi Alliance, who's responsible for testing

the interoperability of all of these different wireless devices.

The first standard we'll look at is the one from the very beginning.

It's the 802.11 eight.

This is one of the very first wireless standards that was released

back in October of 1999.

It's a standard that operates exclusively in the five gigahertz frequency range.

It can use other frequency ranges with special licensing,

although these days you don't often see very many.

802.11 eight networks still around the 802.11.

A wireless standard operates at 54mbps.

And although this doesn't seem very fast now, back in 1999

when this was first released, that was a great deal of speed

on a network that suddenly was able to operate wirelessly.

Because we are operating at five gigahertz frequencies,

we don't tend to have the same range as lower frequencies

such as the 2.4GHz range that's used by 802.11 b.

With these higher frequencies, the objects around us tend to absorb

the signals, whereas with radio 2.11 B they tend to bounce off of those devices.

And therefore we get a little bit more distance from a 2.4GHz base network.

As I mentioned, it's not common to see 802.11 A and use these days.

And very often this will be a type of network

that has already been upgraded to a much faster and newer standard.

At about the

same time that 802.11 A was released,

the I also finalized the 802.11 B standard.

This is not an upgrade to the A.

Instead, this is a completely different standard

that operates with different frequencies and different speeds.

802.11 B operates in the 2.4GHz range,

and its maximum speed is 11mbps, which is certainly much slower

than the 54mbps we were able to get.

With 8 or 2 dot 11 A so why would we choose

the slower 11 megabit per second wireless standard

when a 54 megabits standard already was available?

In many cases, this is associated with the frequency in use.

As I mentioned earlier, 2.4GHz frequencies

tend to bounce off of devices instead of being absorbed,

and therefore we get a bit longer distance in 2.4GHz networks.

This, of course, will depend on the type of environment.

If you're in a warehouse,

you may choose 802.11 A because there's so much open space.

But if you're in an office setting with a lot of people in desks,

you may choose to 11 b because that frequency works a lot better

in that environment.

One challenge we have with this 2.4GHz range is that wireless

networks are not the only devices that can use those frequencies.

It's very common to see things like baby monitors, cordless phones,

or even the Bluetooth standard.

Take advantage of 2.4GHz frequencies.

This means that we could have frequency conflicts when trying to communicate

using all of these devices simultaneously in one single area.

It's also difficult to find 802.11 B networks that might still be operating.

And if you do run into an 802.

11 B network, it's probably because you're upgrading it to a newer version.

One of the first upgrades

available to these 2.11 B networks was the standard for Android 2.11 G.

This was released in the June 2003 timeframe, and just like 802.11 B

2.11 G also operates in the 2.4GHz range.

The reason that this was such a useful upgrade for folks running Android 2.11 B

was that we increase the speed on the G standard to 54mbps,

which is about the same as we found with 802.11 A.

This data 2.11 G standard is backwards compatible with the B standard.

That means that we could upgrade our access point to the 802.

11 G, and still continue to use our B devices on the same network.

And although 2.11 G operates at higher speeds, it still suffers

from the same frequency conflicts that we have with the hundred 2.11 B

because all of these devices will be using 2.4GHz frequencies.

In 2009, a new

standard was released that effectively upgraded 802.11 A,

B, and G to a new version of 802 11 N.

As you probably noticed, it can be confusing to keep track of all

of these different letters and numbers.

So instead of using the standard name of 802.11 A or 802.11 G,

we're now referring to these standards as Wi-Fi standards.

So 802 11 in can also be called Wi-Fi four.

Technically speaking, 802.11 A, B, and G could also be called Wi-Fi

one, two, or three,

but because those standards are so old and indeed difficult to find implemented

on anyone's networks these days, we are starting with Wi-Fi

four as the standards for this numbering scheme.

Because 802.11 N, or Wi-Fi four,

is designed to upgrade 802.11 A,

B, and G, this standard is able to operate at both five gigahertz

and 2.4GHz simultaneously, if your access point supports that.

We also have more bandwidth available for each individual channel.

We can have up to 40MHz channel widths.

And what this really means is we're able

to transfer much more data at the same time over this network.

If you do have a wireless access point that's able to use

those 40MHz channel widths and it has four antennas on it,

you can get a maximum theoretical throughput from 2.11

N of 600mbps,

which is obviously a large improvement over a 2.11 A, B, or G.

The Sata 2.11 N standard also introduced a new form of communication

for wireless networks called Mimo, or multiple input multiple output.

This means the devices can transfer much more information

simultaneously between the end station and the access point.

In January of 2014, we

introduced 802.11 AC, which we now refer to as Wi-Fi five,

and this was another improvement over the previous standard of radio 2.11.

In Wi-Fi five operates exclusively in the five gigahertz range,

so unlike 802.11 in, there is no 2.4GHz available in Wi-Fi five.

We can also use much more of that wireless spectrum simultaneously,

because 2.11 AC will support up to 160MHz of a channel bandwidth.

This translates into more channels that can be used simultaneously,

and therefore more data

that can be transferred over that wireless network simultaneously.

This standard also changes how information is transferred over

that wireless network.

We refer to this as signaling modulation, and this also increased

the amount of data that was able to be transferred at any particular time.

This newer 2.11 AC standard not only uses multiple input multiple output,

but increases the capabilities of that Mimo by adding multi-user Mimo

so multiple users could be communicating over

multiple input and multiple outputs simultaneously.

This standard supports up to eight of those multi-user Mimo streams,

which translates into a maximum total throughput of nearly

seven gigabits per second for Android 2.11 AC.

We mentioned earlier that 802.11 AC operates only in the five gigahertz band,

but if you look at access points that may be available to buy,

you'll see some of them say that they are 802.11 AC access points

that operate at five gigahertz and 2.4GHz.

In those cases, the communication that's occurring at 2.4GHz

is actually using the 802.11 N standard,

and anything at five gigahertz is using the AC standard.

The upgrade to 802.11

AC arrived in February of 2021 with the 802.

11 a X standard, or what we call the Wi-Fi six standard.

This is a standard that operates at either five gigahertz frequencies or 2.4GHz

frequencies, and on some access points can use both of those simultaneously.

The standard also supports many different channel widths, so we can have bandwidths

of 20, 40, 80 and 160MHz

for people communicating on that wireless network.

If we look at the standards for 8 to 11 acts, we can get a total

throughput per channel of about 1.2 gigabits per second.

This is a relatively small increase in throughput when you compare it

to other improvements in the standards through the years,

but there is a difference in how this particular version was designed.

8.2. 11 Ax was designed to solve some of the problems we have with

using these wireless networks in areas where there are a large number of people.

So if you're at a sporting event or a trade show, you may find it difficult

sometimes to communicate over these wireless networks.

With radio 2.11 Ax, we introduced a new form of communicating

called orthogonal Frequency Division, Multiple Access, or OFDM.

A this takes a type of communication that we've used for some time

on our cellular networks, and brings it into the world of 802.11.

This allows us to put 811 networks in places

with large numbers of people, and be able to communicate without a huge

loss in efficiency over those wireless networks.

So here's the summary of these different standards.

2.11 A operated on five gigahertz frequencies and did not have Mimo support.

Its maximum theoretical throughput per stream was 54mbps.

And in the case of 802.

11 A, we only had one stream to work with.

So with a maximum throughput up 54mbps,

82.11 b operated in the 2.4GHz range,

and it operated at a maximum throughput at 11mbps.

As the upgrade to 802.11 B

hundred 2.11 G also operated at 2.4GHz

and had a maximum throughput of 54mbps.

If you run into an 802.

11 inch network, you can operate at either 5 or 2.4 gigahertz frequency ranges,

and can use up to four separate streams of multiple input and multiple output.

This gives us a total throughput per stream of 150mbps,

or a maximum throughput of 600mbps.

Overall, 802.11 AC is a five gigahertz technology only.

It supports eight downloadable streams of multi-user, multi-room

input multi-output at 867mbps for each stream, making a total

theoretical throughput maximum of 6.9 gigabits per second and 802.

11 access operates at both five gigahertz and 2.4GHz.

It also supports eight streams, but the multi-user Mimo in Ax supports

eight download and upload streams simultaneously.

That gives us a maximum theoretical throughput per stream of 1.2 gigabits

per second, and a maximum theoretical throughput of all streams

at 9.6 gigabits per second.

If you

purchase an access point, bring it home and plug it in.

You'll probably get a range of about 40 to 50m.

If you're using the built in antennas.

If you're working in a corporate environment

and you want to connect to buildings together with radio 2.11,

then obviously that type of antenna is not going to work.

Instead, you'll need some fixed directional antennas,

and you may need to increase the overall signal strength of the 802.

11 signal.

In our offices and homes,

we have signals that might be bouncing or be absorbed by the things around us.

When we're sending a signal between buildings, there's usually not

much in the way that would cause the signal to bounce or be absorbed.

We would use very directional antennas like this Yagi antenna,

to be able to have a very focused point to point connection

between an antenna on one building and the antenna on the other building.

If you're planning to set up a long range fixed wireless network,

make sure you look at the rules and regulations in your area.

Wireless networks have their own complexities

associated with them, and when you layer on local

and federal rules and regulations regarding wireless communication,

it provides some additional challenges to the implementation.

If you're using a wireless service that's transmitting to your home,

or you're trying to connect different wireless services between buildings,

you may want to look to see what frequencies are available to use.

You may have 2.4 and five gigahertz frequencies available

natively in the standard, but there may be other frequencies

available that you can apply for, which might provide you some advantages

over using the busier 2.4GHz or five gigahertz frequencies.

You'll need to check with the 82.11 standards, and see what options

might be available for the type of network that you're installing.

Not only are there rules and regulations about what frequencies you can use

and where you can use them,

there are also regulations about how much of this signal can be sent.

There are different regulations on whether these signals

will be inside of the building or outside of a building. So

make sure you know all of the differences when you're installing the network.

And ultimately, you'll need to install an antenna outside.

If you're receiving a signal from a service provider

or you connecting two buildings together.

Installing antennas outside have their own set of safety requirements,

not only in where you install the antenna, and that it's not near any power source,

but you'll also have to make sure that the antenna is protected.

Case. It happens to be hit by lightning.

In many cases, it might make more sense to bring in a third party who has

an expertise in installing these types of external or outdoor networks.

Another wireless technology that's widely used

is RFID or radio frequency identification.

If you have an access badge that unlocks a door by holding it

up to a sensor, it's probably using RFID inside of that badge.

If you're in manufacturing,

you have an assembly line or you need to keep track of inventory.

Then you will extensively use RFID, and we even use RFID at home

to keep track of our pets.

So if we happen to lose that pet, they can easily be scanned

and that identification information will be tied back to you

so that your pet can be returned.

This is one type of RFID tag you can see.

This one is designed to be cylindrical,

and you can see how small it is because it's next to this grain of rice.

If you have an RFID

tag inside of your access badge, and it's probably a flat one like this,

where the antennas around the outside and the RFID chip is right in the middle.

As you can see

in these pictures, there's often no battery inside of these RFID tags.

Instead, this uses radar technology.

As we send signals out, that signal is being captured

by the antenna that is converted to power, added to the chip

that effectively powers and allows this device to transmit back.

Although this is one way to communicate via RFID,

there are other RFID tags that do have a power source.

We refer to those as active or powered RFID.

We've extended the

use of RFID into our mobile phones

and our smartwatches through the use of NFC.

This is near field communication, and it's a way for our mobile devices

to be able to have two way conversations with other devices that we might use.

For example, we might be checking out at a store and we can use our phone

or our smartwatch to pay for those goods because we've associated our credit card

with the NFC technology that's in our devices.

You might also see NFC used if you need to pair to Bluetooth devices.

And because we often carry our phones and our smartwatches with us,

we can use NFC to act as an access card

so that we can use our phone to unlock a door instead of a separate card.