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CompTIA A+ Certification All-in-One Exam Guide

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Wireless Networking Standards

Most wireless networks use radio frequency (RF) technologies, in particular

the 802.11 (Wi-Fi) standards. Other standards, such as infrared, Bluetooth,

and cellular, hold a much smaller place in today’s market, although cellular

connections to the Internet surpass anything else, at least with smartphones.

To help you gain a better understanding of wireless network technologies,

this section provides a brief look at the standards they use.

NOTE Radio frequency is the part of the electromagnetic spectrum used

for radio communication.

IEEE 802.11-Based Wireless Networking

The IEEE 802.11 wireless Ethernet standard, more commonly known as Wi-

Fi, defines methods devices may use to communicate via spread-spectrum

radio waves. Spread-spectrum broadcasts data in small, discrete chunks over

the frequencies available within a certain frequency range.

NOTE Wi-Fi and other wireless communication technologies use radio

frequencies that fall in industrial, scientific, and medical (ISM) radio bands.

This can lead to interference with other devices, such as microwave ovens

and baby monitors.

The 802.11-based wireless technologies broadcast and receive on one of

two radio bands: 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz. A band is a contiguous range of

frequencies that is usually divided up into discrete slices called channels.

Over the years, the original 802.11 standard has been extended to 802.11a,

802.11b, 802.11g, 802.11n, and 802.11ac variations used in Wi-Fi wireless

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