Explaining Wi-Fi: 802.11 Standards & Generations

The Wi-fi Alliance has done a better / less confusing job than their USB equivalent organisation in giving the various implementations simple names. That said, I treasure my new CAT 6 LAN cables.

I'm blown away by this explanation Chris, in all my years online I never knew the origins, the differences (only superficially aware of the differences) between the standards and why they suddenly changed naming conventions. Thank you for this... you sir are a great teacher.

"Miracast" is still one of the coolest WiFi iterations ever. Thank you Christopher!

Some notes, the channel numbers we have on 2.4 GHz originated with the original 802.11 from 1997. 802.11g is exactly the same protocol as 802.11a, but with the addition of 802.11b protection. It is this b protection that really kills performance, when b signals are present. WiFi Direct used to be called Ad Hoc, where two or more devices could connect directly.

I remember 802.11a and b being around at the same time, and I never understood (until this video) why 802.11a wasn't more popular despite being so much faster.

That 'train' analogy was really excellent! It really helped explain to me the differences between PHY and throughput 🙂

This is the best video I've seen in describing the WiFi standards! Thanks for posting! As a network engineer, I love seeing stuff like this getting posted so I can direct people to it that are eager to learn!

I am an IT Consultant, a former software developer and I have to admit that I did not know even half of this. Thanks for educating me 🤗

I love how you made the explanation of WiFi standards and security, "Crystal Clear"! I was absorbed during the entire video. Extremely well thought out and presented. Thank you Chris. 😊

One of the earliest examples of 'Wifi Direct' that I can remember is the Playstation Portable which released in 2005. It allowed you to directly connect to another PSP with Wifi to share games and play multiplayer. I thought it was amazing

I enjoy these. Puts a lot of figures and stats into greatly needed context.

Great overview of 802.11/WiFi. Like mass storage the improvement in performance of both has been amazing over the last couple of decades. As someone who's engineering career spanned both the evolution of Ethernet and WiFi I am in awe

What is interesting in terms of throughput in wifi is whether there will be any full-duplex communication. As of yet, all of the 802.11 protocols have been based on half-duplex, which only allows one-way communication. Ethernet has for a long time been able to use full-duplex, making simultaneous transmission and reception between devices possible. Wireless communication is much more complicated as it introduces interference and signal attenuation, making it necessary to have good multiple access protocols and error detection at the link layer. I hope to see more breakthroughs as this technology has not yet reached its full potential.

WiFi was the first technology to bring the Internet to you. Previously the Internet only existed at one cable connected computer in your home or in your office. With a WiFi Laptop and early phones you had Internet access in your whole home, at cafes, train stations, airports, etc... Sometimes it is still the only Internet option if you go to a foreign country and your simcard doesn't work.

I swear Chris is the only one who can make me understand confusing technology standards like USB, SD cards, Wi-Fi, PCIe etc. Not only his didatics is fantastic, but so is the material that he uses to explain the topics, like tables, graphs and lists.

It's always a pleasure to see an Explaining Computers video in the feed every Sunday.

At least it makes more sense than USB 3.x

Once again, Chris, an excellent video Explaining a subject that literally goes over our heads. We take it for granted these days, but when I was growing up in the 70s there wasn't even such a thing as a personal computer. Well, not in my house anyway. Always look forward to the Sunday videos. Thanks for putting in the effort. Have a great week.

Thank you for your very comprehensive explanation for the wonders of Wi-Fi. It reminds me of that well known darts program back in the day where they said 'Lets look at what you could have won!' I for one will stick with Cat cabling where possible. At lease I know what to expect and what is achievable. Thanks again. ATB.

I literally had no idea about how wifi worked, that is, until I found this video! Keep up the great work Chris, your channel is amazing, and it truly deserves a lot of attention. I'm excited to see what will be coming out next Monday. (I said Monday because your videos come out very late in Australia, usually between 11PM and 2AM.)