802.11n vs 802.11ac vs 802.11ad: Wi-Fi Standards Compared

This page compares 11n, 11ac, and 11ad to highlight the differences between these 802.11 standards.

802.11n

This is a standard within the 802.11 family, designed for high data rates, extending the capabilities of 11a/b/g standards. It’s often referred to as HT (High Throughput).

• Frequency range: 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz
• Backward compatibility: Supports legacy fallbacks of 11a, 11b, and 11g systems.
• Modulation Scheme: OFDM and DSSS/CCK
• Data modulation: Supports BPSK, QPSK, 16QAM, 64 QAM
• Channel Bandwidth: 20MHz and 40MHz
• OFDM data subcarriers/pilots: 48/4, 108/6
• OFDM coding rate: 5/6
• Short guard interval: 400 ns
• Spatial streams: 4
• Max. Data rate: 600 Mbps with 40 MHz bandwidth and 4 streams
• Distance covered (approx.): 70m (indoor), 250m (outdoor)
• MIMO configuration: Most devices use 2T3R (2 antennas in transmit and 3 antennas in receive). Maximum configuration goes up to 4T4R.
• Beamforming: Supports many types of explicit beamforming
• Transmission: Supports single user transmission
• PHY layer frame (in HT mixed mode): Consists of L-STF, L-LTF, L-SIG, HT-STF, HT-LTFs, and Data

802.11ac

Also part of the 802.11 family, 11ac extends the capabilities of the 11n standard. It’s referred to as VHT (Very High Throughput) and maintained/developed by the TGac working group. Broadcom refers to it as 5G WIFI.

• Frequency range: 5 GHz
• Modulation Scheme: OFDM and DSSS/CCK
• Backward compatibility: Supports legacy 11n systems
• Data modulation: Supports BPSK, QPSK, 16QAM, 64 QAM, 256QAM
• Channel Bandwidth: 20MHz, 40MHz, 80MHz, 160MHz
• OFDM data subcarriers/pilots: 48/4, 108/6, 234/8, 468/16
• OFDM coding rate: 5/6
• Short guard interval: 400 ns
• Spatial streams: 8
• Max. Data rate: 6.93Gbps using 160MHz bandwidth, 8 spatial streams, MCS9, 256QAM, with short guard interval
• Distance: About 80 m with 3 antennas (about 10 meters more than 11n)
• MIMO configuration: 4 X 4
• Beamforming: Supports Only NDP (Null Data Packet) explicit beamforming
• Transmission: Supports single user transmission as well as multi-user transmission
• PHY layer frame (VHT mode): Consists of L-STF, L-LTF, L-SIG, VHT-SIG-A, VHT-STF, VHT-LTF, VHT-SIG-B, and Data part.

802.11ad

This standard was jointly developed by Working Group TGad and the Wireless Gigabit Alliance. It is referred to as WiGig. Applications include digital cameras and 3D video streaming.

• Frequency range: Unlicensed frequency allocations around 60 GHz (58.32 GHz, 60.48 GHz, 62.64 GHz, 64.80 GHz). See country-specific allocations below.
• Backward compatibility: Not backward compatible with 11ac and 11n. It is a completely new standard developed to cater to extremely high data rates and provide short-range wireless connectivity.
• No. of channels/Channel bandwidth: 4 / each 2.16 GHz wide
• Data rate: Throughput of 7 Gbps
• Distance: More than about 10 meters with beamforming enabled.

802.11ad Country-Wide Frequency Allocations

• U.S. and Canada: 57.05 GHz - 64.0 GHz
• European Union: 57.0 GHz - 66.0 GHz
• South Korea: 57.0 GHz - 64.0 GHz
• Japan: 59.00 GHz - 66.00 GHz
• Australia: 59.4 GHz - 62.90 GHz
• China: 59.0 GHz - 64.0 GHz