802.11n Officially Ratified
posted Sunday Sep 13, 2009 by Nicholas DiMeo
The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, or IEEE, has officially ratified the 802.11n wireless standard! This is very exciting news as it takes the spectrum out of the draft status that it was placed in since 2006. This also allows manufacturers and companies alike to create more hardware, with the assurance that it will work correctly with any and all devices that contain or support the technology. IEEE looks to publish the standard and finalize it in mid-October.
The delay came about in 2002, when Atheros and Broadcam were working on a "pre-N" technology, ultimately attempting to produce a resistance against the changing technology. The IEEE stepped in and in March of '07 decided to certify the "Draft 2.0" 802.11n, but only under the conditions that the companies would allow the devices to be upgradeable to the standard when ratified.
You can find wireless-N in many newer notebooks and even in some handheld and mobile devices. "N" can connect at speeds of 300Mbps (at optimal stipulations) which is six times greater than its predecessor 802.11g. The speed can be, in part, attested to the Multiple In, Multiple Out (MIMO) antenna arrangements that can sort through signal fragments and put them together as the spectrum is sent through the workspace. This not only increases speed, but also extends the range of the router and receivers.
