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Difficulty: MediumWireless Networking Standards and Technologies

A network technician is configuring a dual-band wireless access point for a small office. The technician attempts to configure a SSID dedicated to legacy 2.4 GHz client devices using only the IEEE 802.11ac standard. However, the legacy client devices are unable to discover or connect to this wireless network. Which of the following technical characteristics explains why 802.11ac cannot service these 2.4 GHz-only clients?

  1. The IEEE 802.11ac standard operates exclusively in the 5 GHz frequency band.Answer
  2. B
    The IEEE 802.11ac standard requires channel bonding across adjacent 2.4 GHz non-overlapping channels 1, 6, and 11.
  3. C
    The IEEE 802.11ac standard is restricted to the 6 GHz frequency band introduced with Wi-Fi 6E.
  4. D
    The IEEE 802.11ac standard uses Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM), which is unsupported by 2.4 GHz radios.

Answer

IEEE 802.11ac operates exclusively in the 5 GHz frequency band, making it broadcast-incompatible with legacy devices that only possess 2.4 GHz radios.
The IEEE 802.11ac (Wi-Fi 5) standard was designed specifically for the 5 GHz frequency band to take advantage of wider channels and reduced congestion. Because it has no implementation defined for the 2.4 GHz spectrum, client devices equipped only with 2.4 GHz wireless adapters cannot communicate using 802.11ac.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Identify the operational specifications of the IEEE 802.11ac (Wi-Fi 5) standard.
Recognize that 802.11ac specifies operation only in the 5 GHz band.
Understanding frequency band requirements is fundamental to wireless network provisioning and device compatibility.
2
Analyze client device capabilities described in the scenario.
Determine that the legacy clients only possess 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi radios.
Client radios restricted to 2.4 GHz cannot transmit or receive signals operating at 5 GHz.
3
Synthesize the incompatibility cause.
Conclude that an 802.11ac-only network cannot be detected or joined by 2.4 GHz-only clients.
Dual-band APs must enable 802.11n, 802.11g, or 802.11ax on the 2.4 GHz radio to support legacy 2.4 GHz clients.

Key Concept

Frequency band specifications of IEEE 802.11 wireless standards (802.11ac 5 GHz exclusivity)
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Wireless Networking Standards and Technologies

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