Qualcomm’s announcement of the “availability” of a chip complying with Draft 2.0 of 802.11n standard due to its acquisition of Airgo, has raised eyebrows. Conforming to a draft of the standard is not logical. In addition, the IEEE 802.11n group needs to resolve 370 issues that came out of its November meeting and a vote… Continue Reading
Category Archives: 802.11n
Ruckus Wireless Announces Smart Wi-Fi
Ruckus Wireless unveiled “Smart N”, a new antenna and signal control technology for 802.11n access points. The wireless equipment maker plans to conduct a demonstration of the product at the Consumer Electronics Show, which will take place in Las Vegas in January 2007. The new solution involves several radios and antennas working concurrently and can… Continue Reading
Intel To Add Prestandard 802.11n To Centrino In ’07
At the IEEE Globecom 2006 Expo in San Francisco, Intel announced plans to integrate a pre-802.11n technology in its Centrino chips next year. The 802.11n standard, which promises better performance than the current WiFi technology, is not likely to be ratified until the first half of 2008. Gartner analyst Ken Dulaney expressed concerns regarding decisions… Continue Reading
IEEE 802.11 Standard’s Evolution
The evolution of wireless technologies brought lessons that are now driving the draft 802.11n efforts: 1) The WLAN industry made the right move of supporting legacy 802.11b rather than establishing a new and potentially higher-performing frequency band at 5 GHz, which could cause incompatibility among products. 2) Improving throughput in environments filled with interference from… Continue Reading
802.11n Speeds Wireless LANs
Although considered a technology for the consumer market, 802.11n supports key applications that are useful to enterprises. These include ERP and CRM systems, workgroup computing applications, and various wireless backhaul applications, which need throughputs higher than what the current 802.11 standards can deliver. Such capacity is due to 802.11n’s features, particularly multiple-input multiple-output. MIMO improves… Continue Reading
Wi-Fi Alliance To Certify Pre-Standard 802.11n Products
The WiFi Alliance plans to certify the interoperability of draft-n products ahead of the full approval of the 802.11n standard. Under the two-phase certification program, the alliance will begin testing the products including baseline features from the standard in the first half of 2007 while the next phase will involve the final ratification, which is… Continue Reading
Q&A: Wi-Fi Alliance Exec Explains About-face On 802.11n Standard
The Wi-Fi Alliance has repealed its earlier decision not to perform interoperability testing of 100+Mbit/s wireless LAN gear through final ratification of the 802.11n standard. Instead, according to WFA Managing Director Frank Hanzlik, the group will undertake a two-phase certification for 802.11n — the first leg will involve certification of products based on the standard’s… Continue Reading
Experts Warn Of ‘Bumpy’ Transition To 802.11n
In-Stat sees a “bumpy” transition from IEEE 802.11b/g Wi-Fi to the next-gen 802.11n standard. The analyst firm believes the move to 802.11n will be more difficult than that to 802.11g from 802.11b. Though formal ratification of the IEEE 802.11n wireless Lan standard may not happen until next year, wireless networking firms have already developed products… Continue Reading
Dell Launches Unapproved 802.11n Wi-Fi Card
Dell is offering Pre-N wireless cards in thier Inspiron line of notebooks. Using an unapproved version of the spec, the cards are backwards compatible with b/g/a networks. The official version of the 802.11n spec is not due until 2007. No word if the cards are upgradable in the even they are not compatible with the… Continue Reading
802.11n: Expect Delays Ahead
With 12,000 comments to review, the earliest date that the IEEE Task Group E in the 802.11 Working Group can come out with a 2.0 draft on Draft-N chips is sometime in January 2007, and not next month as many had looked forward to. The panel had already tackled half of the comments as part… Continue Reading
Linksys Releases Wireless-N For Small Businesses
Linksys unveiled its new line of networking products for small enterprises. The Wireless-N series includes an access point, a security router with a VPN, and a CardBus adapter for laptops. It uses the 802.11n wireless draft specification, which promises longer ranges and higher throughput. Linksys is selling the Wireless-N access point and laptop adapter for… Continue Reading
Why We Must Get 802.11n Right
802.11n is very important to the industy, that’s why they should be sure to get it right. There are a large number of problems with the current proposal that need to be smoothed over to prevent interoperabilty problems and interference with legacy equipment. Homefully they get it right or things will be very interesting. Via… Continue Reading
Too Soon, Too Little For 802.11n?
802.11n seems not to be getting the warm reception that was expected. Reviews of pre-n gear is luke warm to negative. Lack of compatibility, bandwidth drop off at a distance and questions of future interoperability are burning many early adopters. Unless you have a real need for 802.11n now, it’s best to wait unit things… Continue Reading
Dell Jumping On The 802.11n Bandwagon Early
Dell is jumping on the Pre-802.11n bandwagon and has announced plans to put Pre-n in the third quarter of 2006. The hope that the equipment will be upgradable to the final 802.11n spec when it is released in 12-18 months, but there is nothing certain. Via [arstechnica.com]… Continue Reading
Time To Welcome Draft N?
Current developments make Draft N poised to hit the mainstream market next year, according to Mike Hurlston, Broadcom’s vice president of WLAN products. Hurlston said four laptop makers, i.e., Dell, Acer, Lenovo and HP, have announced plans to ship Draft N products. He also noted the improved cooperation among chipmakers, thus creating better interoperability among… Continue Reading