Home and business owners looking for networking equipment face several choices. Many products comply with the 802.11a, 802.11b/g/n, and 802.11ac wireless standards, collectively known as Wi-Fi technologies. There are also other wireless technologies, such as Bluetooth, that perform specific networking functions.

For quick reference, 802.11be (Wi-Fi 7), approved in 2024, is the most recent standard. However, just because a standard has been approved doesn’t mean it’s available to you or the standard you need for your specific situation. These are updated routinely, just like software is updated on smartphones or computers.

In 1997, the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers created the first WLAN standard. They called it 802.11, after the name of the group that was formed to oversee its development. Unfortunately, 802.11 only supported a maximum network bandwidth of 2 Mbps, too slow for most applications. For this reason, regular 802.11 wireless products are no longer produced. However, a whole family has emerged from this first standard.

The best way to look at these standards is to think of 802.11 as the foundation, and all the other iterations as building blocks on that foundation that focus on improving both small and large aspects of the technology. Some of the building blocks are minor tweaks, while others are quite major.