802.11n
802.11n
In January 2004 IEEE announced that it had formed a new 802.11 Task Group (TGn) to develop a new amendment to the 802.11 standard for local-area wireless networks. The real data throughput is estimated to reach a theoretical 540 Mbit/s (which may require an even higher raw data rate at the physical layer), and should be up to 40 times faster than 802.11b, and near 10 times faster than 802.11a or 802.11g. It is projected that 802.11n will also offer a better operating distance than current networks.
The Enhanced Wireless Consortium (EWC)[3] was formed to help accelerate the IEEE 802.11n development process and promote a technology specification for interoperability of next-generation wireless local area networking (WLAN) products.
On January 19, 2006, the IEEE 802.11n Working Group approved the EWC's specification as the draft approval of 802.11n.
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802.11n Related Products
Anytime, Anywhere, WLAN Monitoring and Troubleshooting. AirMagnet's WiFi Analyzer is the industry's most popular mobile field tool for troubleshooting enterprise Wi-Fi networks. WiFi Analyzer helps IT staff make sense of end-user complaints to quickly resolve performance problems, while automatically detecting security threats and other network vulnerabilities. Although compact, WiFi Analyzer has many of the feature-rich qualities of a dedicated, policy-driven wireless LAN monitoring system.
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AirMagnet Survey delivers fast, scientifically accurate site surveys for any 802.11a/b/g/n indoor and outdoor wireless network. This evolutionary software automatically gathers critical Wi-Fi and RF spectrum information from your enterprise network using multiple data collection methods and generates detailed Wi-Fi performance maps of the results for easy network deployment, capacity planning and optimization. It is the only survey solution to actively associate to APs and get real world uplink/downlink data rates, retry and packet loss information.
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802.11n Related Product Families
AirMagnet provides mission-critical wireless LAN (WLAN) administration and diagnostic tools to help companies deploy, administer and secure their wireless networks.
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3eTI offers both a line of highly secure wireless LAN devices that meet NIST standards (FIPS 140-2 Validated) and the capability to help plan and implement a new or improved wireless LAN. 3eTI are also the First Wireless Infrastructure Supplier to Provide Common Criteria Secure Products. When it comes to robustly secure WLAN connectivity, dynamic mesh networking, wireless bridging & repeating, deploying hotspots... 3eTI products are the ideal solution.
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802.11n Related Industry News
THE A to Z of wireless terms and technologies Everything you need to know about Wireless Jargon 802.11a
54Mbps wireless Ethernet operating in the 5GHz band.
802.11b
The industry standard 11Mbps wireless Ethernet operating at 2.4GHz.
802.11e
Defines quality-of-service for wireless local area networks, to support voice-over IP for example.
802.11g
Successor to 802.11b, providing up to 54Mbps over the same 2.4GHz spectrum used by 802.11b.
802.11h
A supplement to 802.11a to ensure t......
[more] Coalitions form for new wireless war A new fast wireless LAN standard may be in for a long and ultimately frustrating approval process The wireless industry is just about to launch the 802.11n high-speed network standardisation process, but some participants are already anticipating an ugly fight.
With over 500 interested parties and more than 60 proposals tabled, according to reports, the initial meeting -- scheduled for 11 July in Portland, Oregon -- promises to be the first of many. Whil......
[more] High-speed wireless begins its standardisation journey The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) will begin sifting through a record number of proposals for a high-speed amendment to the 802.11 standard next week, but wireless chip makers are already jumping the gun with pre-standard products.
802.11n is intended to more than triple the real throughput of wireless LAN (WLAN) by focussing on enhancements to the MAC (media access control) interface, rather than the physical l......
[more] Wi-Fi Group Cracks Down on Incompatible Extensions The Wi-Fi Alliance announced a new policy Monday to prevent proprietary extensions to wireless standards from breaking compatibility with other devices.
The alliance said it would pull its logo—certifying interoperability with other Wi-Fi products—from devices whose extensions made them inoperable with other devices.
The policy seems to be the Wi-Fi Alliance's response to the "good neighbor" debate between Atheros Inc. and Broadcom Corp.......
[more] Industry Coalition Floats Proposal for 802.11n A second group is floating its technical proposal to replace Wi-Fi, in advance of a meeting next month to begin resolving the issue. The so-called WWiSE consortium–comprising Airgo Networks, Bermai, Broadcom, Conexant, STMicroelectronics and Texas Instruments–held a conference call Thursday morning to introduce its new proposal for the 802.11n standard. "WWiSE" stands for "World Wide Spectrum Efficiency," a characteristic of the new proposed standa......
[more] First Wi-Fi products get security certificate The Wi-Fi Alliance got its next certification programme off to a flying start, issuing WPA2 badges to a bunch of products that comply with the 802.11i security specification. The Alliance is readying other programmes for quality of service and the 802.11n fast Wi-Fi standard due next year.
The WPA2 certified products include generic designs from Atheros Communications and Broadcom, so customers can expect to buy products with the badges on by the en......
[more] Wi-Fi group says 'no' to pre-standard 802.11n kit The Wi-Fi Alliance (WFA) today formally avowed its aversion to so-called 'pre-standard' wireless products by pledging not to certify kit featuring 802.11n technologies until the standard has been ratified by the IEEE.
That's not expected to take place until November 2006, but if past versions of Wi-Fi are anything to go by, a number of WLAN chip makers and equipment makers will undoubtedly try to beat the rest to market by offering products tha......
[more] Motorola Merges Its Plan for Faster Wi-Fi Two camps are ready for a showdown over faster wireless LANs following Motorola's agreement last week to merge its proposal for the IEEE 802.11n standard with that of the World Wide Spectrum Efficiency (WWiSE) consortium.
There are two remaining proposals for the 802.11n standard, which calls for wireless LANs that offer more than 100 megabits per second of data throughput. A task group of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers is set to......
[more] One and a half cheers for WiMAX WiMAX - the broadband wireless wide area networking technology - may fail to take off in Europe because of unresolved regulatory and technical standards issues. In contrast to the enthusiasm from leading suppliers such as Intel, and early success in north America, delegates at a conference in London this week struck a cautious note.
FierceWireless's Stephen Wellman, chairman of the WiMAX Forum conference, said enthusiasm for the technology from delegates was sub......
[more] High-speed Wi-Fi standards debate stalls The latest proposal for 802.11n, the next-generation Wi-Fi standard, has been sent back to the drawing board after a second failure to be approved by the IEEE The process to establish the next-generation Wi-Fi standard, which promises to quadruple transmission speeds, has stalled as members of the working group developing the standard failed to pass the main proposal onto the next stage.
The proposal, put forth by the vendor group called Task Group 'n' s......
[more] WiFi Units Hit Record Volume in 1Q05; Revenue up 20% Despite plummeting ASPs from fierce vendor competition, worldwide wireless LAN equipment revenue rose 20% to $767.6 million between 4Q04 and 1Q05, and 12.2 million units were shipped, the highest quarterly volume to date, according to Infonetics Research's quarterly market share service, Wireless LAN Equipment. Revenue is expected to rise another 2% to $779.6 million by 1Q06, and will hit $3.6 billion by 2008, as wireless LAN products continu......
[more] Wi-Fi standard impasse makes 802.11n merger likely The leaders of the rival proposals for faster Wi-Fi are expected to meet face to face next week, to discuss a truce following the failure of IEEE's 802.11n task group to reach an agreement.
"The IEEE .11n ballot was a good result," said Dave Borison, director of product marketing at Airgo Networks Inc. "It's a wake-up call for both camps. We want to move forward and get a standard in place. Within the next quarter, or two at the most, we will......
[more] 802.11n supercharges Wi-Fi The forthcoming 802.11n standard will increase the capabilities of Wi-Fi kit The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), based in the US and not to be confused with our own Institution of Electrical Engineers (IEE), creates standards for various aspects of electronics. The best-known standards in the IT field are those written by committee 802, which include the standards for Ethernet, other LAN access methods and LAN security. However, 802 is now mos......
[more] Wireless industry comes together for faster Wi-Fi A group of 27 technology companies said on Monday they would collaborate on a new, faster Wi-Fi wireless Internet standard for computers and other portable devices.
The alliance joins previously separated camps that were heading toward separate standards.
It includes some of the biggest wireless chipmakers such as Broadcom and Intel as well as network gear maker Cisco and portable computer makers Lenovo, Sony Corp and Toshiba Corp.
The compa......
[more] Next-gen Wi-Fi standard showdown Vendors race to market with non-standard implementations of high speed 802.11n Battle lines are now being drawn over the next-generation WLAN standard, IEEE 802.11n, which promises speeds of 100Mbps and higher, as well as increased range.
Behind a seemingly innocuous announcement last week of a new wireless router from Netgear lies a major WLAN industry schism that pits the likes of Cisco, Intel, and Sony against Nokia , Texas Instruments , and Airgo Networks,......
[more] Industry group agrees on high-speed Wi-Fi proposal An industry group seeking common ground on the emerging IEEE 802.11n high-speed wireless LAN specification has agreed on a compromise proposal that may form the basis of a final standard.
The joint proposal group, which includes backers of all the major factions in the fight over how to boost the speed and range of WLANs, late Wednesday approved a proposal by a unanimous online vote with two abstentions, according to Bill McFarland, CTO at At......
[more] 802.11n spec ready for first vote The first draft of the Wi-Fi 802.11nspec will finally be voted on this week, after much wrangling between opposing interests of members in the IEEE.
The compromise draft, created by a joint sub-committee, is expected to pass, according to Bill McFarland, a member of the IEEE and CTO at Atheros.
The original debate divided the group into two camps. Some believed that ratification of the specification was taking too long, causing the EWC (Enhanced Wireless Cons......
[more] Race kicks off for next-gen 802.11n Wi-Fi Vendors off the starting blocks The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) has finally voted to accept the proposed next-generation 802.11n Wi-Fi standard developed by the Enhanced Wireless Consortium.
The proposed 802.11n standard will enable higher performance wireless local area networking, supporting speeds of up to 600Mbps with greater range than existing Wi-Fi technologies.
Two US vendors, Broadcom and Marvell, were both quick o......
[more] Gartner urges 802.11n Wi-Fi restraint Next-gen Wi-Fi will not truly be ready until 2007, analyst firm warns Companies should stay away from next-generation Wi-Fi equipment described as 802.11n compliant, Gartner has warned.
"Plan to stay with Wi-Fi certified products under the 802.11a/b/g banner. Expect these technology investments to be good for at least four more years," a group of three Gartner analysts recommended, adding that 802.11n should not be considered until 2007.
The forthcoming 8......
[more] 802.11n - what really happened? Who was strong-arming whom? Last year a group of companies attempted an end run around the IEEE committee developing the next-generation wireless LAN standard, 802.11n. Its goal was to obtain a time-to-market advantage over the one firm that has successfully commercialised the advanced technology central to 802.11n. The industry rebuffed this maneuvre. A quick review of 802.11n is in order. The 802.11n Task Group was established to identify a WLAN technology capa......
[more] 802.11n works - and could be extended While the delivery of draft 802.11n products may be controversial, Broadcom has shown that its Intesi-fi draft 802.11n fast wireless chipset works - and promised it would upgrade to the standard. At the Wireless Event in London this week, the company showed a Buffalo access point achieving 120 Mbit/s actual throughput, supporting two TV streams, one of which was high-definition. "It will be a firmware upgrade to full 802.11n," said Gordon Lindsay,......
[more] Dell launches unapproved 802.11n Wi-Fi card Dell has launched a wireless card that promises to boost network speeds to 270 Mbps.The card will be available as an optional expansion on XPS and select Inspiron notebooks for $59.The Dell Wireless 1500 Draft 802.11n dual-band wireless card offers backward compatibility with the existing 802.11a, b and g wireless standards. The card is made by Broadcom.The computer maker touted that the high speed wireless technology would enable new applications suc......
[more] New Wi-Fi standard delayed again The long-awaited next-generation Wi-Fi standard has been delayed again and won't likely be ratified until sometime in 2008. The new standard that will allow notebook users to connect to wireless access points at much faster speeds than is currently available was expected to be finalized later this year. In January, the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) approved a draft version of the standard called 802.11n, after much controversy and infig......
[more] IEEE 802.11n Wireless LAN to Grab 20% of Market in 2007 Market research firm In-Stat believes that even though several companies initiated shipments of equipment compatible with draft 802.11n wireless local area networks (WLAN) standard, the market will shift to the new standard at a much slower pace compared to the transition to 802.11g."Buyers of these Draft n products are early adopters willing to pay two to three times the price of standard 802.11g products. In-Stat expects the transit......
[more] Wi-Fi Alliance to certify pre-802.11n kit The Wi-Fi Alliance has promised to certify interoperability of Wi-Fi products that include features from the unratified IEEE 802.11n standard in the first half of 2007.The IEEE recently updated its estimated timeline for ratification of a full 802.11n standard, and is now targeting the first quarter of 2008 for final approval. However, Wi-Fi products implementing features from the draft specification are in the market now, and analysts forecast that ten......
[more] 802.11n will change the enterprise As a proposed wireless standard for high-throughput enhancements, 802.11n has been viewed primarily as a consumer technology. However, 802.11n has key applications applicable to the enterprise and is widely expected to drive the next generation of deployments.Enterprise-class, bandwidth-intensive applications like ERP and CRM systems, workgroup computing applications, and some wireless backhaul applications require throughputs larger than current 802.11 techno......
[more] 10 things you should know before you buy an 802.11n wireless device If you've spent any time in your local tech shop, you are sure to have seen a rash of Pre-N and Draft-N wireless products. Before you get caught up in a rush of new product frenzy and plunk your money down, take a few minutes and look at exactly what you are buying.MIMOOne of the big advantages of 802.11n is MIMO. MIMO is short for Multiple Input / Multiple Output. MIMO breaks the data transmission down to multiple parts that a......
[more] Fast Wi-Fi standard ready for vote A completed draft of the 802.11n fast Wi-Fi standard could be ready to vote on this week - signalling greater acceptance and a flood of products later this year. The IEEE fast Wi-Fi standard, which will operate at up to 200 Mbit/s, is expected to take a significant step closer to reality this week, when the Task Group N in the IEEE's 802.11 LAN Working Group completes a draft which can be voted on, according to Glenn Fleishman of Wi-Fi Net News. "The IEEE......
[more] Apple to charge for faster Wi-Fi Some MacBook Pro and MacBook customers have the faster 802.11n Wi-Fi chip already sitting in their systems, but it will cost $2 to light it up. Apple on Thursday confirmed reports that it plans to charge customers a fee to download software that will enable the 802.11n capability in the Wi-Fi chips found in some MacBook and MacBook Pro systems. But it won't cost $5, as many reports indicated. It will cost $1.99, and will be available on Apple's Web site, said Ly......
[more] Wireless-N receives unanimous vote The IEEE 802.11n fast Wi-Fi standard has reached its second draft ahead of schedule, opening the way for Draft N branding as soon as March, and possible firmware upgrades for existing devices. Products can't be called "802.11n compliant" until the standard is formally approved, but few changes are now expected before the final standard emerges. Approved by the 802.11n working group, Draft 2.0 must now get approval from the IEEE membership, to form th......
[more] Business Internet Users Go Wireless According to a new Pew Internet & American Life Project study, one-third of Internet users have used a wireless connection around the house, at their workplace, or some place else. Analysts expect that group to grow in Corporate America in the coming years as Wi-Fi security gets stronger and coverage range improves. Users who access Internet-based e-mail and search the Web from their BlackBerries or other mobile PDAs were among those who responded to the......
[more] 802.11n Wi-Fi draft approved by IEEE Draft 2.0 of the 802.11n wireless-networking standard has been approved by an IEEE working group. The move means that 'draft 2.0' 100+Mbps (megabits per second) wireless LAN products could be on sale as early as summer 2007. Around 83 percent of working group members approved the draft, more than the 75 percent votes. The vote suggests that after more than a year of often acrimonious debate, members of the group have finally got together behind the core tech......
[more] Wi-Fi group to certify gear in June The next generation of wireless Internet products certified by the Wi-Fi Alliance is expected to hit shelves this summer, even though a final standard for the technology isn't due for another year, the industry group says. The Wi-Fi Alliance was announcing Wednesday that it will begin certifying wireless routers, networking cards, microchips and other so-called "Draft N" products in June. The products, which take their name from the upcoming 802.11n......
[more] Cisco says wait for 802.11n Cisco has added location sensing to its wireless LAN and allowed it to scale up - but it has stopped short of launching faster 802.11n Wi-Fi access points, with a set of announcements at the Interop event in Las Vegas. The announcement is deliberately light on new technology, because what users actually want is solutions to problems in vertical markets - or at least that's the spin that Ben Gibson, Cisco's director of marketing for mobility put on it: "We are se......
[more] High-Performance Wireless LAN Is Key To Business Mobility There has been a lot of talk about improving the performance of the wireless LAN here at this year's Interop. Why do IT departments need high-performance Wi-Fi? Without it, initiatives like business mobility and unified communications will go nowhere fast.All this talk about voice over Wi-Fi and dual-mode access is cool, but if the campus Wi-Fi system is some legacy 802.11b deployment, it just ain't gonna work. And most Wi-Fi systems tod......
[more] Wi-Fi Alliance starts testing draft 802.11n gear Routers, clients, and other 802.11n Draft 2.0 networking gear with the Alliance's seal of approval are expected to start hitting store shelves in September The Wi-Fi Alliance launched the action phase of its plan to get faster wireless networking products into the market on Monday, kicking off certification testing of gear based on a draft version of the IEEE 802.11n standard. The industry group that popularized wireless LANs expects 802.11n Draft......
[more] "Certified" fast Wi-Fi could still hurt today's nets The Wi-Fi Alliance is issuing brands for fast "Draft N" equipment, but it is not testing the most controversial part of the specifications - whether the new Wi-Fi kit will cripple existing 802.11g networks. The Draft N brand, launched last month, tests basic functions, but specifically does not test features that can block today's Wi-Fi systems. D-Link, Netgear and Linksys have all received branding, but users cannot be sure whether......
[more] AirMagnet unveils Vo-Fi 3.0 Analyzer The booming voice over wireless (Vo-Fi) market presents its own unique set of potential challenges, according to AirMagnet Inc. The company recently released the latest versions of its Vo-Fi monitoring software -- Vo-Fi Analyzer 3.0 -- designed to monitor the voice quality of all phones on a Wi-Fi network including those transmitting fully encrypted traffic. To that end, Vo-Fi Analyzer 3.0 automatically indicates what's wrong with any given phone on the netw......
[more] AirMagnet analyses 802.11n Wi-Fi Wi-Fi management company AirMagnet has launched an 802.11n laptop analyser, ready for the host of performance issues expected from the emerging fast wireless LAN standard. Wi-Fi vendors are divided over when it is safe for enterprises to adopt the 802.11n Wi-Fi standard which promises up to 600 Mbit/s over wireless links. AirMagnet believes that the standard will emerge in offices quickly, whether IT departments like it or not. "The first thing to happen wi......
[more] Is 802.11n ready for the enterprise? The latest draft of the 802.11n wireless LAN standard looks to be enterprise-ready, but many businesses are wary about buying pre-standard equipment It's faster and has far greater range than current wireless LAN technology. And it's stable. So is the most recent draft of the 802.11n wireless LAN standard ready for enterprise adoption? Such products are widely available for consumers even though final ratification isn't expected for more than a year. However......
[more] Wi-Fi: The next generation Despite interminable delays to the forthcoming 802.11n wireless networking standard, there's a consensus it will finally materialise in March 2009. Meantime, it's being touted as a fix-all for Wi-Fi's various shortcomings. The standard promises to improve range and boost traffic throughput, from the existing 54Mbps (megabits per second) offered by 802.11g-based technology, to between 100Mbps and 300Mbps, depending on a range of factors.The performance improvement takes......
[more] T-shirt sniffs out Wi-Fi networks Website retailer ThinkGeek is selling a cotton T-shirt that lights up when it detects a nearby Wi-Fi network. Known as the Wi-Fi Detector Shirt, it features an animated decal that that has glowing bars which lights up when there is an IEEE 802.11b or 802.11g network in range. However, it cannot yet detect networks using 802.11n Draft 2.0. More bars light up as the signal gets stronger. The 100 percent cotton T-shirt is only available in black and cost $29.99. T......
[more] Extended WiFi range creates security risks A growing number of gadgets are now appearing on the market to offer WiFi users extended range when picking up "free" WiFi signals. "These devices, which can be obtained for under 20.00 pounds or so, can easily extend the effective range of a WiFi access point or router up to two or three hundred yards. This means that companies that think their WiFi access point is limited to their company building, need to think again," said David Hobson, GSS' managin......
[more] Are You Ready for the All Wireless Workplace? With 802.11n offering performance and security on par with cabled Ethernet, why wouldn’t you embrace wireless? This, anyway, is the vision of WLAN equipment vendors. The most telling slogan is Motorola’s: “Wireless by default, wired by exception.” The truth, though, is this all-wireless vision takes some parsing. All-wireless is coming—if you’re talking about the end-user perspective. No one is proposing wireless data centers. Ethernet t......
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