IEEE 802.11 (legacy mode)
| Gen. | Vi- sual |
IEEE standard |
Adopt. | Link rate (Mbit/s) |
RF (GHz) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wi-Fi | — | 802.11 | 1997 | 1–2 | 2.4 |
| Wi-Fi 1 | — | 802.11b | 1999 | 1–11 | 2.4 |
| Wi-Fi 2 | — | 802.11a | 1999 | 6–54 | 5 |
| Wi-Fi 3 | — | 802.11g | 2003 | 2.4 | |
| Wi-Fi 4 | 802.11n | 2009 | 6.5–600 | 2.4, 5 | |
| Wi-Fi 5 | 802.11ac | 2013 | 6.5–6933 | 5 | |
| Wi-Fi 6 | 802.11ax | 2021 | 0.4–9608 | 2.4, 5 | |
| Wi-Fi 6E | 6 | ||||
| Wi-Fi 7 | 802.11be | 2024 | 0.4–23,059 | 2.4, 5, 6 | |
| Wi-Fi 8 | — | 802.11bn | 100,000 | 2.4, 5, 6 |
IEEE 802.11 (legacy mode) – or more correctly IEEE 802.11-1997 or IEEE 802.11-1999 – refers to the original version of the IEEE 802.11 wireless networking standard released in 1997 and clarified in 1999. Most of the protocols described by this early version are rarely used today.