The following describes the current defined wireless protocol standards.

802.11a

This standard was approved in 1999 with the IEEE committee. It specifies a maximum data rate of 54 Mbps using 5.15 GHz – 5.35 GHz and 5.725 GHz – 5.825 GHz unlicensed bands in the United States. The advantage of 802.11a is higher throughput however the cell coverage is smaller and additional access points will be needed. There is much less interference from devices such as cell phones, microwaves and commercial devices using the 2.4 GHz band. There are 23 non-overlapping channels with the current 802.11h specification.