There is Wi-Fi an essential part of our society, and is part of our day. Today we take many things for granted in this regard, we are used to it working well and offering excellent performance even when we have multiple devices connected, but this was not always the case.

Originally this technology it had several major flaws, and only over time and with the development of new standards were they overcome. Its evolution It was very interestingand marked very clear turning points that we want to share with you today in this article, where we will see one by one the different existing Wi-Fi standards.

To make this article more useful and easier to consult, I have distinguished between the Wi-Fi standards that we can consider obsolete and others who are the most advanced and these are the present or the future of the industry. As always, if you have any questions after reading the article, feel free to leave them in the comments.

Outdated Wi-Fi standards

• IEEE802.11: a standard that serves as the basis for communication in wireless networks. The first standard from 1997 allowed the transfer of data to 1 Mbps He identifies himself as the “grandfather” of this technology
• IEEE802.11a: was developed based on the IEEE 802.11 standard. He came in 1999, worked in a band 5 GHz and reached maximum speed 54 Mbps It is identified as Wi-Fi 2.
• IEEE802.11b: was the first standard developed in the late 1990s. He is able to transfer the dice to the maximum 11 Mbps in the band 2.4 GHz It is identified as Wi-Fi 1. You should be careful with it because it can disrupt your Wi-Fi connection.
• IEEE802.11g: also uses band 2.4 GHz. For this standard, the maximum transmission speed has been increased up to 54 Mbps. It dates from 2003. It is identified as Wi-Fi 3.

Standards used today

• IEEE802.11n: Ratified in September 2009. Works in both 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands and reaches speeds of up to 600Mbps It is identified as WiFi 4.
• IEEE802.11ac: It was standardized at the end of 2013. It works in the 5 GHz band and can reach speeds of 1,300 Mbps It is identified as WiFi 5.
• IEEE802.11ax: a breakthrough that reaches speeds of up to 10 Gbps It is identified as WiFi 6.

Standards that will be the future

• IEEE802.11be: it will be the next big leap in Wi-Fi connectivity. It will work in the 2.4 GHz, 5 GHz and 6 GHz bands and promises speeds of up to 30 Gbps This will be marked as WiFi 7. This standard is already taking its first steps in test environments and will be available between late 2023 and early 2024.