List of Wi-Fi Protocols

For more information about standard-compliant (IEEE 802.11) Wi-Fi protocols, see.

Standard and non-standard (proprietary) Wi-Fi protocols and extensions:


 * , or Classic WaveLAN - (before 1997)
 * NCR / AT&T / Lucent proprietary, 900MHz / 2.4GHz ISM


 * - (before 1997) Aironet proprietary
 * - 1996 - unsuccessful wlan standard
 * IEEE 802.11 (1997) - :
 * 2.4GHz 1, 2Mbps only, DSSS / FHSS, aka IEEE 802.11-1997 or IEEE 802.11-1999


 * Whitecap - Cirrus Logic / ShareWave proprietary extension to 802.11, QOS oriented
 * 802.11a (1999) - 5GHz, 54Mbps, OFDM
 * 802.11b (1999) - 2.4GHz, 1, 2, 5.5, 11Mbps, DSSS, CCK
 * 802.11b+ - Texas Instruments proprietary extension to 802.11b. 22Mbps.
 * Also known as Packet Binary Convolutional Code (PBCC) technology, PBCC-22, b+


 * - 2000 - unsuccessful wlan standard. PHY similar to 802.11a,
 * different MAC (dynamic TDMA similar to modern LTE standard)


 * HiSWANa - 2000 (High Speed Wireless Access Network type a) - HiperLAN/2 variant
 * 1.0 - 1.6Mbps FHSS 2.4GHz (Proxim/Intel). 802.11 competitor, defunct.
 * HomeRF 2.0 - 10Mbps FHSS 2.4GHz (Proxim/Intel). 802.11 competitor, defunct.
 * Whitecap2 - Cirrus Logic / ShareWave proprietary extension to 802.11b, QOS oriented
 * - Atheros proprietary, 108Mbps achieved by bonding two 54Mbps 802.11g channels.
 * Also marketed as: 108G Technology, 108Mbps 802.11g, and Xtreme G, Turbo G. A similar concept became part of 802.11n (HT 40MHz).


 * Super AG - Atheros, similar to Super G, also for 5Ghz band.
 * - Broadcom proprietary, 802.11g extension.
 * Also known as: 125HSM, Afterburner, 125Mbps 802.11g, SpeedBooster, Turbo G, G Plus, MAXg.


 * - Broadcom proprietary. Frame bursting in 802.11g.
 * A similar concept became part of 802.11n (WME).


 * G++ Technology - Texas Instruments proprietary 802.11g extension, 125MBps, packet bursting etc.
 * Also marketed as: g+ SuperSpeed


 * - Conexant / Intersil proprietary extension to 802.11g.
 * Nitro MX Xtreme - Conexant / Intersil proprietary extension to 802.11g.
 * Frame bursting, etc. 140Mbps, also marketed as: DirectLink


 * True MIMO - Airgo Networks proprietary MIMO extension to 802.11g. A similar concept became part of 802.11n.
 * Also marketed as: SRX (Speed and Range eXpansion). Not compatible with pre-n / draft-n / final 802.11n standard.


 * WAPI - (2003-2011) Chinese Wi-Fi standard; officially, the implementation was mandatory for Wi-Fi products in China;
 * rarely used in practice; withdrawn in 2011


 * WirelessHD aka UltraGig - (2008) Proprietary 60GHz standard by SiBeam (became Silicon Image, later Lattice)
 * pre-n - (2005-6) an even earlier version of draft-n...
 * draft-n - (2007) Compatible with the final IEEE 802.11n standard up to MIMO 2x2
 * 802.11n (Wi-Fi 4) - (2009) 72Mbps (20MHz), 150Mbps (HT 40MHz), 300Mbps (HT 40MHz MIMO), 450Mbps (MIMO 3x3)
 * 802.11ac (Wi-Fi 5) - (2013) 450/600Mbps (2.4GHz) & 1300/1750Mbps (5GHz), MIMO up to 4x4, 80MHz channel
 * 802.11ac Wave 2 - (2014) MU-MIMO, MIMO up to 8x8, 160MHz channel
 * 802.11ad aka WiGig - (2012) 6.75Gbps (60GHz)
 * 802.11ax (Wi-Fi 6) - (2019) MU-MIMO, 2.4/5 GHz, MIMO up to 8x8, 160MHz channel
 * 802.11ax (Wi-Fi 6E) - (2020) MU-MIMO, 2.4/5/6 GHz, MIMO up to 8x8, 160MHz channel

Unless noted, proprietary protocols are not compatible with each other (for example TI G++ 125Mbps is not compatible with Broadcom 125Mbps HSM).

802.11 network standards

 * https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IEEE_802.11