Wi-Fi Alliance to start testing interoperability of 802.11n products

IEEE still hasn't released technical standards

30 August 2006 10:38 GMT / By Amber Maitland

The Wi-Fi Alliance has grown impatient while waiting for the IEEE to ratify its technical standards for the next-generation of wireless technology, and has decided to start testing new equipment already.

The IEEE has announced that it won’t be finished with Draft 2.0, the ratified standard that covers 802.11n until March of 2008, but products that claim compatibility with the new standard are already hitting the market.

Therefore, the Wi-Fi Alliance has said that it will offer preliminary certification for 802.11n based on interoperability of current products on the market.

The concern with 802.11n networks is that they interrupt coverage of older 802.11a/b/g networks and cause performance to suffer, and working out the problems has taken more time than expected.

The Alliance will start testing in early 2007 for pre-certification, with final certification to happen after the IEEE ratification is released in 2008.

The news is expected to mean that more and more people will start buying “n” wifi products, shifting away from older standards.

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