LANCOM WLAN devices operate with the IEEE 802.11 standard. This is a collection of standards that build on the earlier IEEE standards for LANs. The best known of these is IEEE 802.3 for Ethernet. Among the various IEEE 802.11 standards, some specify wireless transmissions in various frequency bands and at different speeds. LANCOM Access Points and AirLancer client adapters are available which support a number of these standards:
- IEEE 802.11n with up to 300 Mbps data rate in the 5 GHz or 2.4 GHz frequency bands, featuring new mechanisms such as MIMO, 40-MHz channels, packet aggregation, and block acknowledgement.
- IEEE 802.11a with up to 54 Mbps data rate in the 5 GHz frequency band, up to 108 Mbps with Turbo Mode (extension to the standard).
- IEEE 802.11g with up to 54 Mbps data rate in the 2.4 GHz frequency band, up to 108 Mbps with Turbo Mode (extension to the standard).
- Even though modern WLAN adapters generally operate with 802.11a/g/n, LANCOM Access Points remain compatible to older WLAN adapters supporting 802.11b with up to 11 Mbps in the 2.4-GHz frequency band.
By observing these IEEE standards, LANCOM WLAN products operate with devices from other manufacturers reliably and without problems. Depending on the model, your LANCOM Access Point supports the standards IEEE 802.11g (backwardly compatible to IEEE 802.11b) and/or IEEE 802.11a and IEEE 802.11n draft 2.0.
The WLAN module in the Access Points only operates in one frequency band at a time, i.e. either at 2.4 GHz or 5 GHz. It is impossible to operate at different frequencies with a single WLAN module. However, Access Points with two WLAN modules (dual radio) can operate each module at a different frequency. As the standards in the 2.4 GHz band IEEE 802.11b/g/n are backwardly compatible, various standards can be operated simultaneously on a single WLAN module, although lower data rates are incurred