Wireless network interface controller: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 17:28, 28 November 2023

Revision as of 17:27, 1 December 2023

Line 25:

Specifications commonly used in marketing materials for WNICs include:

*Wireless [[data transfer]] rates (measured in Mbit/s); these range from 2 Mbit/s to 9608 &nbsp;Mbit/s.<ref name="Meyers">Meyers, Mike: Network+ Certification All-in-One Exam Guide, McGraw-Hill, 2004, p. 230.</ref>

*Wireless transmit power (measured in [[dBm]])

*Wireless network standards include standards such as [[802.11b]], [[IEEE 802.11a-1999|802.11a]], [[802.11g]], [[802.11n]], [[IEEE 802.11ac-2013|802.11ac]], [[Wi-Fi 6|802.11ax]].

Line 32:

==Range==

Wireless range may be substantially affected by objects in the way of the signal and by the quality of the antenna. Large electrical appliances, such as refrigerators, fuse boxes, metal plumbing, and air conditioning units can impede a wireless network signal. The theoretical maximum range of IEEE 802.11 is only reached under ideal circumstances and true effective range is typically about half of the theoretical range.<ref name="Meyers"/> Specifically, the maximum throughput speed is only achieved at extremely close range (less than {{convert|25|ft|m}} or so); at the outer reaches of a device's effective range, speed may decrease to around 1 &nbsp;Mbit/s before it drops out altogether. The reason is that wireless devices dynamically negotiate the top speed at which they can communicate without dropping too many data packets.

== {{Anchor|MAC80211|MLME|FULLMAC|SOFTMAC|HARDMAC}}FullMAC and SoftMAC devices ==