What You Should Know About a/b/g/n

Saturday November 1, 2008

In 802.11 Wi-Fi networking, a shorthand notation is often used to describe which primary communication protocols a given device supports. The common forms are:

802.11b/g - supports both 802.11b and 802.11g. Because 802.11g is backward compatible with 802.11b, all 802.11g devices are also 802.11b/g capable. The 802.11b/g designation is typically used to refer to networks containing a mix of 'b' and 'g' devices.
802.11b/g/n - supports 802.11n as well as 802.11b/g. All 802.11n devices can also function as 802.11b/g devices when running in backward compatibility mode
802.11a/b/g - supports 802.11a, 802.11b and 802.11g devices. Although 802.11a and 802.11g cannot be integrated together, Wi-Fi devices sometimes support both standards by integrating separate radios onto the unit.
802.11a/n - supports all of the above