Miracast vs Wifi | Difference between Miracast and Wifi
This page compares Miracast vs Wifi and describes difference between Miracast and Wifi wireless technologies.
Both technologies are based on IEEE WLAN standards i.e. 802.11. They both are used for same applications such as to establish connection between devices in order to share audio/video/data.
Miracast technology
The Miracast technology is based on WiFi direct, which makes two devices to connect using wifi connection without the use of wifi router. Miracast devices do not require any home network to exist for making paired connection. This is as simple as bluetooth or wifi as far as connection establishment is concerned. Miracast support H.264 and hence 1080p video and 5.1 surround audio.
Following are the features of Miracast technology.
• Standards: Wi-Fi P2P, Wi-Fi Direct
• Application: Screen Mirroring
• Frequency allocation: 2.4GHz, 5 GHz
• Encryption: WPA2 , Refer WEP vs WPA vs WPA2 for more information.
• Network type: P2P
• Power: same as WLAN standards(11a/11b/11g/11n/11ac/11ax)
• Range: same as WLAN standards
• Data Rate: same as WLAN standards
What is Wifi
The term wifi refers to wireless devices making connection using WLAN standard based physical layer.
The wifi network uses Access Point or router in order to provide connection to requesting client devices such as
smart phones, tablets, laptops etc. Hence any wifi network must have Access Point or wifi router.
Following table summarizes difference between wlan standards.
Also refer Difference between 11a 11b 11g 11n, Difference between 11n 11ac 11ad and
What is 802.11ax.
| Specifications | 802.11a/ac/ax | 802.11af | 802.11ah | 802.11ad |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Frequency spectrum | 5GHz | 60GHz | ||
| Power | 160 mWatt | 100 mWatt | 100 mWatt | 10 mWatt |
| Range | 35 meters | > 1Km | 1 Km | 10 meters |
| Data rate | 433 Mbps @ 80 MHz BW, 867 Mbps @ 160MHz BW, 6.77 Gbps @ 160 MHz BW and 8x8 MIMO support |
26.7 Mbps | 40 Mbps | 6.76 Gbps |
From above mentioned points one can derive similarities and difference between Miracast and Wifi technology based devices.
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