Talk:IEEE 802.11

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Dubious use of source [1]

Part of the history section of this article reads:

802.11 technology has its origins in a 1985 ruling by the U.S. Federal Communications Commission that released the ISM band for unlicensed use.

And references source [1]. Neither the current nor archived version of source [1] actually references 802.11 or any court ruling by name. Should the reference be removed? Trickypr (talk) 11:43, 31 May 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Spatial Streams

What exactly is a "spatial stream" ?

The term appears in every one of these Wikipedia 802.11 articles, 802.11n,ac,ax, and referenced MIMO links, &tc. (and everywhere else on the internet). But invariably, the only definitions of the concept are just substitutions of other words, like "multiplexing". And some hand-waving about doing it with separate antennas.

That doesn't explain even fundamentally what it is and how it's accomplished. For later 802.11 variants (802.11ax) it's easy to understand segregation of OFDMA subcarrier bands, much like channel bonding, that's a good starting point for the concept. Otherwise, for earlier 802.11 levels where "spatial stream" originated, what is it, how is it accomplished. Slots, timeslice, request+grants, what 2601:40D:8100:9400:6972:CAEC:953C:4038 (talk) 07:09, 20 November 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Dated pictures

Chetvorno recently replaced a 1-decade-old picture with a 2-decade-old picture. While the intent is good, we really should try to find something less than 10 years old to use for a lead image. ~Kvng (talk) 14:41, 2 October 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Sounds fine to me. The reason I replaced it, of course, is that the new picture has both a laptop and a wireless router; in one picture it shows nontechnical people an entire wireless network. It was the only one I could find that had both. The picture it replaced was kind of redundant; just another wireless router like the one above it. If someone wants to take a picture of a more recent router and their laptop and replace it, I'm good. --Chetvorno^TALK 16:42, 2 October 2024 (UTC)[reply]

ToDS and FromDS

On the section "Layer 2 - Datagrams" we see this:

ToDS = 0 and FromDS = 1
- A frame sent by a station and directed to an AP accessed via the distribution system.
ToDS = 1 and FromDS = 0
- A frame exiting the distribution system for a station.

Aren't these two definitions inverted? "A frame EXITING the distribution system" isn't by definition FromDS? And "a frame sent by a station DIRECTED to an AP accessed VIA the distribution system?" isn't going ToDS? Isn't the Distribution System the "outside", the "external internet", the backbone?

Can someone who understands this subject better clarifiy this? Thank you very much. 2804:1B3:9442:6FC:B1CE:79A4:A8AA:DBC3 (talk) 15:41, 26 March 2025 (UTC)[reply]