ASUS provides compatibility guarantee for draft-n products

Despite the disappointing speed and range improvements we've seen from draft-n products so far, there's no denying 802.11n is the future of WiFi, and that means consumers looking for a speed boost who join the draft-n bandwagon do so at their own peril, risking hundreds of dollars on a wireless router that could very well prove incompatible and obsolete in a year or so. Well, router manufacturers have to sell something while they wait for the WiFi Alliance to get off its butt and approve a draft of the 802.11n spec, and ASUS is taking the draft-n game to a new level by guaranteeing future compatibility with the final 802.11n spec "whether in the form of firmware or hardware updates." ASUS is covering their WL-500W and WL-100W routers, both powered by "Intensi-fi" tech and claiming speeds higher than 100Mbps. The upgrade program covers all units purchased before the end of '06, and will last for 3 months after the ratification of the final spec -- which should happen sometime this century.

[Sebastian @ Oct 3rd 2006 12:21PM]

I mailed U guys about this about a month ago....get with the program...ehem..hehe

[par @ Oct 3rd 2006 12:47PM]

I dreamt about this two months ago.

[strider_mt2k @ Oct 3rd 2006 1:12PM]

Is there going to be any way to use the mini PCI slots and antennas in existing laptops to upgrade to "N" cards?

I would go for it if so.

[John Stracke @ Oct 3rd 2006 4:11PM]

Correction: the 802.11* specs are not ratified by the Wi-Fi Alliance; they're ratified by IEEE. The Wi-Fi Alliance is a marketing effort, to provide common terms for 802.11* equipment and (probably) do interop testing.