layer, having essentially no commonalty with the DSSS the installed base of 802.11b products. The "G" task or FH PHY layers of the classic standard and targeted for group, which was charged to take on this awkward task, operation in a different slice of spectrum around 5 GHz. after some struggles and dissension approved the 802.11g 802.11b was a much more conservative attempt to im- standard in 2003, noticeably after the release of several prove performance of the 802.11 PHY layer without prestandard commercial products. At the time of this changing it very much. The 802.11b standard received writing (early 2004), 802.11g products have nearly the most early commercial attention, including support replaced 802.11b products on the shelves of consumer in the consumer market from Apple Computer's Airport electronics stores: the promise of backward compatibility product line and Cisco's Aironet products in the "en- in conjunction with a much higher data rate at nearly the terprise" market (LANs for large industrial companies). same price is an effective sales incentive, even though The elaboration of compatibility efforts begun in asso- many consumer applications do not currently require the ciation with the release of 802.11 classic led to the for- high data rates provided by the standard. Dual-band mation of the Wireless Ethernet Compatibility Alliance, access points and clients, supporting both 802.11a and or WECA, which (recognizing the awkwardness of the 802.11b/g, are also widely available. IEEE's nomenclature) provided Wi-Fi compliance certi- A number of task groups are also actively attempting fication to ensure interoperable 802. 11b products from to fill in holes in the original standards work and add new multiple vendors. By 2000 it was clear that 802.11b had capabilities. Task group "I" is charged with improving the found a "sweet spot," combining adequate data rates limited authentication and encryption capabilities pro- and performance with simplicity and low cost, and was vided in the original standard,