IEEE 802.3 standardises wired Ethernet’s physical and MAC layers using CSMA/CD. It succeeded by enabling interoperability—not speed or novelty. Its mechanism became obsolete before the standard did. It remains essential infrastructure, not evolutionary architecture.
IEEE 802.11 is the foundational WLAN standard family. It defines MAC and PHY protocols for wireless local area networking. It uses CSMA/CA for channel access. It supports multiple bands and modulation schemes. It enables interoperability with Ethernet and IP. It was first released in 1997. Amendments extend functionality without replacing the base.