802.11Bwas developed by the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineering (ieee) and finalized in 1997. 802.11b specifies how devices can communicate to each other "over the air". (the IEEE recently released the 802.x specs to the public).
802.11 (aka WiFi) is similiar to the common Ethernet networking in use today. Most xDSL and Cable modems use Ethernet (the cable with the fat phone connector). (fwiw, the Ethernet standard is 802.3).
Over the past few years the cost of 802.11B equipment has dropped dramatically. 2 years ago a single network card could cost well over $500 (Canadian), today you can walk into a future shop and purchase a LinkSys WPC11 for ~$210.
There is also an older standard, 802.11 (not 802.11a) which runs at a slower speed. These older cards communicate at approximately 2 megabits per second, whereas .11b can communicate up to 11 megabits (standard Ethernet (ie: 10BaseT, 5BaseT) runs at 10mbits).
802.11a is a rapidly evolving standard for data rates in the 54mbps range. At the physical level it is closely related to the hiperlan\2 standard in europe (and defined under the auspices of ETSI).
802.11g is another standard, based onthe 802.11a physical layer but intended to extend 802.11b that will probably involve most of the 11b manufacturers sometime in the next year or so ( by q3 2002 at a guess).
WACKED WIRELESS: The Standards Mess around wireless data in unlicensed bands ( plagiarized from the bottom of http://biz.yahoo.com/st/010620/27170.html (june 20 - 2001)):
802.11a Backers: 3Com, Apple, Cisco, Intel, Nortel This next-generation version of 802.11 debuts early next year. It increases data throughput to 54Mbps (from today's 11Mbps) and moves to the less congested 5-GHz radio band. That could make it popular in homes that are cluttered with interfering cordless phones and baby monitors.
802.11b (Wi-Fi) Backers: 3Com, Apple, Cisco, Intel, Nortel The current wireless network leader. Operates on the 2.4-GHz frequency and shuttles data at speeds up to 11Mbps. Despite interference and security issues, its affordability and heavyweight backers have made it the standard to beat.
802.11g Backers: 3Com, Apple, Cisco, Intel, Nortel An extension to 802.11b, it moves data at speeds of at least 20Mbps and perhaps as high as 54Mbps. Available at the end of 2002, it's likely to be the corporate choice, since it is compatible with existing 802.11b products. Still needs FCC's blessing.
802.11e Backers: AT&T,Cisco, Intel Improves streaming-media performance for every flavor of 802.11. When it rolls out at the end of next year, it will bring great functionality to 802.11, but much later than HomeRF 2.0. No FCC approval yet.
HomeRF Backers: Compaq, Motorola, National Semiconductor, Proxim, Siemens The current alternative to 802.11b. Also operates on the 2.4-GHz spectrum, but data moves at a poky 1.6Mbps. Less prone to interference than 802.11b, but it has been hurt by decreasing prices for 802.11b products and Intel's defection.
HomeRF 2.0 Backers: Compaq, Motorola, National Semiconductor, Proxim, Siemens Boosts to 10Mbps, but stays on the 2.4-GHz band, ensuring compatibility with existing HomeRF devices. Slower than 802.11, but voice and multimedia support could win consumers when it hits this year.
HiperLan2 ( a european standard fostered by ETSI the european telecommunications standards institute ) Backers: Ericsson, Lucent, Xilink The emerging European standard, it operates on the 5-GHz band and boasts a 54Mbps data speed. Likely to be the Old World's choice for the short term. Has the same OFDM physical layer as 802.11a, and g.
Incidentally, a Canadian company, Wi-LAN of Calgary holds the US and Canadian patents on wideband ofdm at the PHY heart of 802.11a and hiperlan/2 see white papers at http://www.wi-lan.com
