Wireless Communication standards
The whole world is getting more and more connected. We are all used to a myriad of wireless technologies like GSM, CDMA, BlueTooth, Wifi, GPS etc.
The emergence of the Internet Of Things (IOT) means that the amount of wireless devices is growing exponentially to connect our lamps, fridges, doorbells to applications on our phones and tablets.
There are many communication standards for different applications like mobile data, home data, voice, navigation and home automation. Several of these standards have evolved from basic implementations to ever increasing bandwidths and data rates.
This overview shows most of the current communication standards with operating frequency range, modulation, RF bandwidth and data throughput. Networks are still evolving and new technologies are emerging.
The operating frequencies given can vary or be restricted depending on the country or region where they are used.
The MegiQ products cover most of the frequency ranges and allow you to measure and develop hardware for any of these technologies. Our products are generally independent of the communication system or protocol.
This page shows an overview of the technologies and frequencies for several communication systems. For specific technologies used for Drones refer to our Drone Wireless Technologies page.
Mobile Telephony and Data
| Name | Standard | Frequency MHz | Modulation | Bandwidth MHz | Data bps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2G | GSM | 850/900/1800/1900 | GMSK | 0.2 | 9.6 k |
| 3G | UMTS / WCDMA | 850/900/1900/2100 | QPSK, 16-QAM | 5 | 384 k+ |
| 4G | LTE | 700 – 3800 | QPSK, 16/64-QAM | 1.4 to 20 | 100 M |
| 5G | NR | Sub-6 GHz and mmWave | QPSK, 16/64/256-QAM | 100 / 400 | 20 G |
| DECT | DECT | 1880 – 1900 | GFSK | 1.728 | 500 k |
4G Frequency Bands
| 4G FDD — Frequency Division Duplex | 4G TDD — Time Division Duplex | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Band | MHz | Band | MHz | |
| 1 | 2100 | 33 | 1900 | |
| 2 | 1900 | 34 | 2000 | |
| 3 | 1800 | 38 | 2600 | |
| 4 | 1700 / 2100 | 39 | 1900 | |
| 5 | 850 | 40 | 2300 | |
| 7 | 2600 | 41 | 2500 / 2600 | |
| 8 | 900 | 42 | 3400 – 3600 | |
| 12/17 | 700 | 43 | 3600 – 3800 | |
| 13 | 700 | |||
| 20 | 800 | |||
| 25 | 1900 | |||
| 26 | 850 | |||
| 28 | 700 | |||
| 29 | 700 | |||
| 30 | 2300 | |||
| 66 | 1700 / 2100 | |||
| 71 | 600 | |||
5G Frequency Bands
| 5G Low | 5G Mid | 5G mmWave | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Band | MHz | Band | MHz | Band | GHz | ||
| n5 | 850 | n1 | 2100 | n257 | 26.50 – 29.50 | ||
| n8 | 900 | n3 | 1800 | n258 | 24.25 – 27.50 | ||
| n20 | 800 | n7 | 2600 | n260 | 37.00 – 40.00 | ||
| n28 | 700 | n41 | 2500 | n261 | 27.50 – 28.35 | ||
| n71 | 600 | n48 | 3600 | ||||
| n50 | 3400 | ||||||
| n78 | 3300 | ||||||
Navigation
| Name | Standard | Frequency MHz | Modulation | Bandwidth MHz |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| GPS | NMEA, RTCM | L1 1575.42 L2 1227.60 etc |
BPSK | ~2 |
| GLONASS | GLONASS | L1 1602 L2 1246 etc |
FDMA/BPSK | ~10 |
| Galileo | Galileo | E1 1575.42 E5a 1176.45 etc |
BOC | ~4 to ~20 |
| BeiDou | BeiDou | B1 1561.098 B2 1207.14 etc |
BPSK, BOC | ~4 to ~10 |
WiFi
| Name | Standard | Frequency GHz | Modulation | Bandwidth MHz | Data Mbps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wi-Fi 4 | 802.11b/g/n | 2400 – 2483, 5 | OFDM, BPSK, QPSK, 16/64-QAM | 20, 40 | Up to 600 |
| Wi-Fi 5 | 802.11a/h/j/n/ac | 5.170 – 5.825 | OFDM, BPSK, QPSK, 16/64/256-QAM | 20, 40, 80, 160 | Up to 1300 |
| Wi-Fi 6E | 802.11ax | 5.925 – 7.125 | OFDM, BPSK, QPSK, 16/64/256/1024-QAM | 20, 40, 80, 160 | Up to 9600 |
Interdevice and Home Automation
| Name | Standard | Frequency MHz | Modulation | Bandwidth kHz | Data kbps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NFC | ISO/IEC 18092 ISO/IEC 21481 |
13.56 | ASK | ~14 | 106 to 424 |
| Bluetooth | Bluetooth 4, 5 / BLE | 2400 | GFSK, π/4-DQPSK, 8DPSK | ~1000 / ~2000 | 3000 to 48000 |
| LoRa | LoRaWAN | 868 / 915 | CSS | 125 to 500 | 0.3 to 50 |
| NB-IoT | 3GPP | 700, 800, 850, 900, 1700 | QPSK, π/4-QPSK | 200 | 10 to 100 |
| Zigbee | 802.15.4 | 868 / 915 / 2400 | O-QPSK | 600 / 2000 | 40 / 250 |
| Z-Wave | Z-Wave | 868 / 908.42 | FSK | 200 | 9.6 to 100 |
| Konnex | KNX | various | various | various | various |
| Thread | Thread / 802.15.4 | 2400 | O-QPSK | 5000 | 250 |
| Philips Hue | Zigbee 3.0 | 2400 | O-QPSK | 2000 | 250 |
| Insteon | Insteon | 869.85 / 815 | FSK | 200 | 38.4 |
| LIFX | Wi-Fi | 2400 / 5000 | LIFX HTTP API | ||
| IKEA TRÅDFRI | Zigbee 3.0 | 2400 | CoAP API | ||
| Yeelight | Wi-Fi, BLE | 2400 | Yeelight API | ||
| Osram Lightify | Zigbee | 2400 | Unofficial API | ||
| Tuya Smart / Smart Life | Wi-Fi, Zigbee | 2400 | Tuya Cloud API | ||
| Various | Various | 310 / 433.92 / 868.3 / 915 | Various proprietary protocols |