1 Bridging the Gap Between Concepts and Reality: 802.11 Standard Uncovered

The ability to communicate within any destination, at any given moment both effectively and efficiently tends to define our success (existence) within not only the world of technology but also the world’s social and economical standpoint. The 802.11 standard had helped emerge the Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) industry as one of the fastest-growing segments of the communications industry. WLAN equipment shipments grew to almost 12 million units in 2001 and the market research firm, Cahners In-Stat expect sales of wireless network cards and WLAN base stations to grow from $1.9 billion in 2001 to $5.2 billion in 2005. Using a wireless protocol, allows for tremendous world advancements in the realm of communications. Third world countries are able to afford communication networks and participate in the future advancements and technology breakthroughs for the first time since their initial existence. Countries around the world are able to use the 802.11 standard to communicate with the world while at the same time decrease the country’s financial costs by excluding the hard wire communication lines and capitalize on the standard’s flexibility and functionality revolving around the concept of cellular architecture. The 802.11 standard has been redefined several times in order to accommodate technological advancement needs. Within the next few years, the standard’s success will be based off interoperability between WLAN products between different equipment manufacturers. In addition, new industries such as education, healthcare, manufacturing and warehouse, production, retail and financial will begin to integrate the 802.11 standard to increase their overall efficiency and decrease their financial overhead