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Matt OS X · Aug 9, 2003, 11:37 AM

Guys,

I've seen this "802.11" thousands of time, or you could say million times.. but what does it means.. I know for sure it has to do something with networking such as airport and etc. Could anyone clarfiy this out for me?

Angus_D · Aug 9, 2003, 01:03 PM

802.11 is a set of standards for wireless networking as set out by the IEEE.

802.11b is the most popular standard, running at a theoretical maximum 11Mbps (real-world 5Mbps). This is the standard which Apple AirPort products adhere to.

802.11g is a new standard running at a theoretical maximum 52Mbps (real-world 20Mbps), which is backwards compatible with 802.11b (meaning 802.11b hardware will work with 802.11g hardware and vice versa). This is the standard which Apple AirPort Extreme products adhere to.

There is also an 802.11a standard which is faster than 802.11b, but is not compatible with it and has shorter range. There aren't any products which work with it available for the Mac, AFAIK.

HTH.

Matt OS X · Aug 9, 2003, 06:14 PM

Originally posted by Angus_D:
802.11 is a set of standards for wireless networking as set out by the IEEE.

802.11b is the most popular standard, running at a theoretical maximum 11Mbps (real-world 5Mbps). This is the standard which Apple AirPort products adhere to.

802.11g is a new standard running at a theoretical maximum 52Mbps (real-world 20Mbps), which is backwards compatible with 802.11b (meaning 802.11b hardware will work with 802.11g hardware and vice versa). This is the standard which Apple AirPort Extreme products adhere to.

There is also an 802.11a standard which is faster than 802.11b, but is not compatible with it and has shorter range. There aren't any products which work with it available for the Mac, AFAIK.

HTH.

Ah, Understood now!

now, 2 quick questions: what does AFAIK and HTH means?

alpha rays max · Aug 9, 2003, 07:38 PM

Originally posted by Matt OS X:
Ah, Understood now! now, 2 quick questions: what does AFAIK and HTH means?

AFAIK = As Far As I Know
HTH = Hope This Helps

ghporter · Aug 9, 2003, 08:39 PM

Well said, Angus and Alpha. There are some online forums that are haunted by folks who would have used our new friend's simple inquiries to launch a tirade about newbies and stupid questions and so on, all to stoke their own miniscule egos... Oops. I got kind of going on that one, didn't I. Sorry.

Anyway, it's good to see us taking care of our new friends, and doing so in a nice, polite way. Let's keep it up.

Jim_MDP · Aug 18, 2003, 04:28 PM

Well Porter, you would say that, wouldn't you.

I've never see anyone anywhere (hard science fora included) answer so many inane newb questions as you (mine included).

Thank you.

Matt OS X · Aug 23, 2003, 01:29 PM

Originally posted by GHPorter:
Well said, Angus and Alpha. There are some online forums that are haunted by folks who would have used our new friend's simple inquiries to launch a tirade about newbies and stupid questions and so on, all to stoke their own miniscule egos... Oops. I got kind of going on that one, didn't I. Sorry.

Anyway, it's good to see us taking care of our new friends, and doing so in a nice, polite way. Let's keep it up.

Aww, no, I wouldn't do that. I'm doing this for myself. I got into more addicted wtih Mac for about a year ago and wanted to know/learn more about things related wtih Macs. So, I figured it wont hurt to ask questions on forums. That's what it's all about.

ghporter · Aug 23, 2003, 01:45 PM

Originally posted by Matt OS X:
Aww, no, I wouldn't do that. I'm doing this for myself. I got into more addicted wtih Mac for about a year ago and wanted to know/learn more about things related wtih Macs. So, I figured it wont hurt to ask questions on forums. That's what it's all about.

Matt, I wouldn't expect you, or most people on this forum to act that way. That's one of the wonderful things about MacNN; there are darn few jerks that even visit, let alone spout off.