If your wireless LAN applications require high performance, then you're probably facing a decision on whether to use 802.11a or wait for 802.11g. Before making the choice, you need to fully understand what both of these standards have to offer. Let's compare and contrast these two competing technologies and then see which one best fits your needs.

There's no doubt that the most widely available and implemented wireless LANs today comply with the 802.11b standard. The recent availability of 802.11a radio cards and access points, however, introduces what is becoming another mainstream wireless LAN solution. If you're planning the deployment of a wireless LAN, you now face making a decision on which one to use: 802.11a or 802.11b.

When deploying a wireless LAN, companies must make a decision on whether to use network interface cards (NICs) and access points designed to operate in the 2.4GHz or 5GHz band (or both). Not too long ago the choice of frequency band was easy, when only 2.4GHz (i.e., 802.11b) products were available. Now, 802.11b and 802.11g products are both available that operate in the 2.4GHz band, while 802.11a use the 5GHz band. This can cause confusion when designing a WLAN, so let's take a look at what you need to consider when making this critical resolution.

The Wi-Fi Alliance (which began its work known as the Wireless Ethernet Compatibility Alliance or WECA before a name change last year) is an international, nonprofit organization focusing on the manufacturing, marketing, and interoperability of 802.11 wireless LAN products. The Alliance is the group that pushes the term "Wi-Fi" to cover all forms of 802.11-based wireless networking (whether 802.11a, b, g, or something in the future); they also are the group behind Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA), the stepping stone between the much-criticized WEP and the yet-to-be-finalized 802.11i security standard; and the Wi-Fi ZONE initiative to brand public access hotspots for quality assurance.