Why is the 802.11b network divided into 22MHz bands?

[Teachme]

I have been trying to learn why 802.11b and g networks can only use 3 22MHz bands simultaneously why can't these bands be made smaller for faster data rate transfer. Why is it divided specifically in 22MHz bands?

Thanks for reading

 

[Floid]

Your channel bandwidth determines your data rate. So you could make narrower bands if you were willing to sacrafice data rate. Or you could make wider bands if you were willing to increase the chance that neighboring devices would interfere with each other.

Not sure why a particular bandwidth was used, but it probably gave the best tradeoff between the number of channels that could be created versus the highest data rate.