10 Conclusions

From this unit about wireless standards we can conclude that a standard is important for both vendors and customers. Standards ensures interoperability between products and trustworthiness towards the clients. Additionally its promotes competition between vendors and drives the development forward.

We have learnt that IEEE is the main standardization body for ICTs and stands behind well known standards as IEEE 802.11 (Wireless LAN), IEEE 802.3 (Ethernet) and IEEE 802.16 (WiMAX).

This unit mainly focus on IEEE 802.11 which is the family of standards for “wireless Ethernet”. We presented how the different IEEE 802.11 amendments (b/a/g etc.) differ in modulation techniques, frequency range and media access methods and concluded how that is reflected on the performance.

By presenting a comparison between WiFi and WiMAX performance we could clearly see the benefits of the new broadband wireless standards in terms of coverage, scalability, Throughput and Quality of Service. However, we should not forget the heavy investments that WiMAX includes and that we must always bear in mind the purpose of a network when planning for it. While WiMAX is suitable for a municipality network, WiFi is still working fine for a small scale network.

The five main issues to remember for this unit can be summarized as follows:

1. A standard ensures interoperability among products within the same standard
2. IEEE is the main standardization body when it comes to information technology and communication systems
3. IEEE 802.11 (Wireless LAN) is a family of standards for “wireless Ethernet”
4. The difference between IEEE 802.11 amendments (b/a/g etc.) lies in modulation techniques, frequency range and enhancements to the original media access method.
5. WiMAX (802.16) is designed to be an outdoor large cell broadband standard while WiFi (802.11) was intended to be an indoor solution built on small cells.