Editing IEEE 802.11 (section)

===802.11-1997 (802.11 legacy)===
{{Main|IEEE 802.11 (legacy mode)}}

The original version of the standard IEEE 802.11 was released in 1997 and clarified in 1999, but is now obsolete. It specified two [[net bit rate]]s of 1 or 2 [[megabits per second]] (Mbit/s), plus [[forward error correction]] code. It specified three alternative [[physical layer]] technologies: diffuse [[infrared]] operating at 1&nbsp;Mbit/s; [[frequency-hopping]] spread spectrum operating at 1&nbsp;Mbit/s or 2&nbsp;Mbit/s; and [[direct-sequence]] spread spectrum operating at 1&nbsp;Mbit/s or 2&nbsp;Mbit/s. The latter two radio technologies used [[microwave]] transmission over the [[ISM radio band|Industrial Scientific Medical frequency band]] at 2.4&nbsp;GHz. Some earlier WLAN technologies used lower frequencies, such as the U.S. 900&nbsp;MHz ISM band.

Legacy 802.11 with direct-sequence spread spectrum was rapidly supplanted and popularized by 802.11b.