Keep in mind that a chain is only as fast as its weakest link. In this case it means that between any two points, if one wireless participant operates on the b standard, the speed data travels at will top out at 11 Mbps, even if the other piece of equipment is uses the g standard. To truly enjoy the speed increase offered by 802.11g, all of your equipment must comply with that standard.
| Wireless transmissions do not maintain a consistent data transfer rate to the full range of the Radio Frequency (RF) signal. Nor does the signal strength gradually fade over distance the way an AM or FM signal does. An algorithm referred to as Adaptive Rate Selection is used to govern signal fall off relative to distance. For 802.11b equipment, signal throughput at the source is 11 Mbps. As distance from the source increases there is an abrupt falloff from 11 to 5.5 Mbps. As the signal travels even further, the signal falls off to 2 and then finally 1 Mbps. The lower data rates use less complex encoding methods, enabling the signal (and thus the data) to travel further away from the source and still be readable. |
There are two primary methods used to network wireless devices in a WLAN, infrastructure and ad hoc.
An infrastructure design uses an Access Point (AP) and all wireless signals from the WLAN goes through the AP regardless of the source or destination device on the network. You can think of the infrastructure method like a hub and spokes with the AP as the hub. If wireless laptop A sends a signal to wireless laptop B, that signal goes from A to the AP and from the AP to B. All devices on the WLAN must associate or make an initial connection to the AP in order to be a member of the WLAN. If a device is unable to associate with the AP, it is not part of the wireless network and cannot exchange data with any other device, even if the laptop is physically next to another wireless device.
