Wireless Devices (Select Models Only) - HP Pavilion ZE2000 Hardware And Software Manual

802.11 Wireless Devices
(Select Models Only)
With an 802.11 wireless device, you can access a wireless local
area network (commonly referred to as wireless network, wireless
LAN, or WLAN), which is composed of other computers and
accessories linked by a wireless router or a wireless access point.
■
A large-scale WLAN, such as a corporate or public WLAN,
typically uses wireless access points that can handle a large
number of computers and accessories and can separate
critical network functions.
■
A home or small office WLAN typically uses a wireless
router, which enables several wireless and wired computers
to share an Internet connection, a printer, and files without
additional pieces of hardware or software. The terms
wireless access point and wireless router are often used
interchangeably.
There are 3 popular implementations of 802.11 wireless devices:
■
802.11b
■
802.11b/g
■
802.11a/b/g
Computers with 802.11 wireless devices may support 1 or more
of 3 industry standards:
■
802.11b, the first popular standard, supports data rates of up
to 11 Mbps and operates at a frequency of 2.4 GHz.
■
802.11g supports data rates of up to 54 Mbps and operates at
a frequency of 2.4 GHz. An 802.11g WLAN device is
backward compatible with 802.11b devices, so they can
operate on the same network.
■
802.11a supports data rates of up to 54 Mbps and operates at
a frequency of 5 GHz. 802.11a is not compatible with
802.11b and 802.11g.
For information on identifying the type of wireless device in your
computer, refer to
Hardware and Software Guide
"Identifying an 802.11 Wireless Device."
Wireless (Select Models Only)
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