The base version of the standard was released in 1997 and has had subsequent amendments.
The standards are created and maintained by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) LAN/ MAN Standards Committee (IEEE 802). IEEE 802.11 is also a basis for vehicle-based communication networks with IEEE 802.11p. IEEE 802.11 is used in most home and office networks to allow laptops, printers, smartphones, and other devices to communicate with each other and access the Internet without connecting wires.
The standard and amendments provide the basis for wireless network products using the Wi-Fi brand and are the world's most widely used wireless computer networking standards. IEEE 802.11 is part of the IEEE 802 set of local area network (LAN) technical standards, and specifies the set of medium access control (MAC) and physical layer (PHY) protocols for implementing wireless local area network (WLAN) computer communication. For comparison, this Netgear product, a combined router and Wi‑Fi access point from 2013, uses the 802.11ac standard in the 5 GHz band, with signalling rates up to 6933 Mbit/s.
This Linksys WRT54GS, a combined router and Wi‑Fi access point, operates using the 802.11g standard in the 2.4 GHz ISM band using signalling rates up to 54 Mbit/s.
