802.11n Wi-Fi standard finally nailed down

by Dean Evans at Monday 14th September, 2009 at 11:31 am [0 comments]

The 802.11n Wi-Fi specification has been finally approved by the IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) after a seven-year development cycle.

The new wireless standard is capable of shooting data at 300Mbps, a dramatic improvement over the 54Mbps speeds provided by the existing 802.11g Wi-Fi protocol.

Of course, unofficial ‘Draft N’ wireless products based on the core MIMO (Multiple In Multiple Out) technology have been available for some time.

Multiple In, Multiple out

MIMO uses multiple antennas at both ends of the wireless radio link to dramatically increase coverage and range compared to older 802.11g systems.

However, Draft N gear such as the popular Linksys WAG160N, was designed, built and sold based on early iterations of the 802.11n specification.

Manufacturers have stated that any Draft N modems or routers can be upgraded to the finalised 802.11n spec via a simple software update.

Further reading: IEEE

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