May 23, 2007

Wi-Fi Alliance plans early approval of 802.11n products

by Brian Turner

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The Wi-Fi Alliance has decided to start certifying products as ‘802.11n Draft 2.0 certified,’ even though the final version of the 802.11n standard will not be finalised until March 2009.

The Alliance, a trade group of companies involved in Wi-Fi technology and services which owns the trademark to Wi-Fi, will certify equipment according to a draft version of 802.11n which was finally approved earlier this year.

Although the final 802.11n standard is guaranteed to be compatible with that version, there is concern that the delay between certification and the final standard could result in interoperability problems between access points and client devices when the standard is finalised.

The 802.11n standard is expected to provide up to five times the throughput and twice the range of 802.11g, the previous fastest standard. 802.11n works in both previous frequencies: 2.4GHz and 5GHz.

Intel’s 4965AGN network adapter, part of its Centrino Pro mobile platform, will be one of the first 802.11n products to be certified, together with router/card combination from Atheros, Broadcom, and Marvell; and a chipset/router combination from Ralink.

Products bearing the new logo for Draft 2.0 of the 802.11n standard will have to be compatible with 802.11a/b/g products and tested for interoperability with other draft-n equipment.

The finalised standard has to be approved by standards body the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers.

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Story link: Wi-Fi Alliance plans early approval of 802.11n products

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