Wireless Backward Compatibility

[prolemur]

What versions are backwards compatible, the ones I know of are a,b,g,n, and ac. Are they all backwards compatible with all the others?

 

Also is the network adapters maximum throughput for only the specified protocol or is it possible to get the most throughput possible from the router connected to.

 

Ex. If my nic is ac with a max of 800mbps and I am connected to an 802.11g router with a max output of 100mbps would I be getting the 100mbps in a best case scenario? (not including overhead)

[Sheldon_King]

As I understand it, you maximum data rate is limited to the lowest in the line wirelessly. For example my laptops are 802.11N compatible, but my router is 802.11g, so the G data rate (54Mbps iirc) is the fastest that I can achieve.

 

All of them should be backwards compatible. I know a/b/g/n are, so I see no reason why a AC card would not also be backwards compatible. 

[MrYuriy]

This is a quote from Cisco:

802.11ac only works on 5 GHz

Yes, 802.11ac will only work on the 5 GHz band. Nearly every wireless client supports the 2.4 GHz band, but unfortunately the band suffers from high interference levels and is quite crowded. In nearly all environments, the 5 GHz band doesn’t suffer from as much interference or crowding as the 2.4 GHz band, and 5 GHz has more spectrum available for WiFi channels. 802.11ac channels will be 80 MHz wide (compared to the 20 MHz or 40 MHz channels of 802.11n), with the option to spread out to 160 MHz channels in the future, although at double the channel bandwidth compared to 80 MHz, there will only be half as many channels.

 

[prolemur]

This is a quote from Cisco:

Oh ya... So I would only be able to use a wireless ac card on a 5ghz network, then why are they backwards compatible with other protocols even though I'm pretty sure they don't have 5GHz routers or at least they are not consumer/common.

[MrYuriy]

Oh ya... So I would only be able to use a wireless ac card on a 5ghz network, then why are they backwards compatible with other protocols even though I'm pretty sure they don't have 5GHz routers or at least they are not consumer/common.

Yes, as per the first part you are correct.

 

As far as why they work with other protocols (which I didn't know, nor have much knowledge of) I am not sure. Sorry.