802.11r WiFi roaming standard approved
By Nilay Patel 
posted August 29th 2008 2:03AM
posted August 29th 2008 2:03AM
While 802.11n has been stuck in endless certification hell for years, the IEEE keeps cranking out additional wireless standards -- the latest is 802.11r, which allows devices to move from access point to access point with less than 50ms in downtime, even for authenticated connections. That's quick enough to keep a voice call alive, which should make the next generation of VoIP phones and other devices that much more flexible when support arrives -- let's hope that's soon.
At the rate they're going, they're going to run out of letters in the alphabet!
At the rate I'm laughing, I could run out of oxygen!
that's what i'm thinking.
what i'm also thinking is: how do they decide what letter is next? like it went from a to b to g to n to r.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IEEE_802.11#Standard_and_amendments
IEEE 802.12? :)
Capital letters? ;-)
They go to double letters. 802.11aa already exists (wikipedia needs to be updated), 802.11ab will be the next. 802.1 is already up to 802.1aw
r for roaming
n for ... never getting finalized
Lmfao :).
I sorta hope they would. Buying into a "draft" is never cool.
LMAO I was just going to ask "What happened to O, P, & Q?" But that answers that!
to move from access point to access point :S
Fun when 99% is secured :s
It says 'even when authenticated', so I guess the idea is that you have some company which has a network of wifi which you signed up for and as you travel it hops from tower to tower.
Obviously they did not design the standard for your stealing bandwidth from your neighbours on the go :)
This is RIDICULOUS.
802.11r for roaming?
Ummmm....when I roam in a call, I'M ON THE PHONE WITH THE PERSON !
oh boy... where would i start with this one?
WOOOW!!!!!!
r for ridiculous
Hope this becomes sooner than we hope!
it's all you phanbouy it's all you :-)
I'd like to know if this will function akin to Microsofts Virtual Wi-Fi project, in that this standard would allow multiple connections rather than just singular switching one-for-one.
If I'm walking down the street and my mobile picks up on four open hotspots, I'd very much like it to be able to split it's load between all of the available access points. 'Bandwidth torrenting' if you like. In urban environments especially, the saturation of hotspots in close quarters of each other would then not only blanket the region, but also potentially ramp up the speed as my device shares out the load equally between all access points in reasonable range.
I'd need a battery the size of a house maybe... but still, it would be interesting to see if this could improve the mobile experience.
So you want every person to saturate his entire hotspot area? Uhm.. is that a good idea? What if you are the second person to arrive in that area? Did you ever think about that?
it would be a security & privacy nightmare. in that scenario when you can connect up to n available networks, anybody can setup an access point and easily find their way onto your device and copy away! wireless devices only connect to 1 access point for a reason.
this would be a security & privacy nightmare. there are reasons why a wireless device can only authenticate to 1 access point.
all we want is the more powerful successor of wifi. Something that can maintain a connection across the house without losing it because your girlfriend farted loudly.
Yes, indeed. It is called WiMAX
Your girlfriend farts out microwaves?....Oh dear God!
I wonder what kind of beans she had, netbeans?
802.11arrr!
Hey, it's not talk like a pirate day yet! I cant wait either =D
The group developing 802.11r, TGr, did happen to meet on September 21, 2007 on which day they were "TG arrrr!"
Also, the following email was sent out on that day:
Ahoy!
The scurvy dogs TG arrr have finished pillagin' and plunderin' and are weighin' anchor. If I catch any of you not following me orders, it's the cap'n's daughter for you!
Like the product codes in our ancient billing mainframe, they'll soon have to start using ASCII symbols instead
802.11Ʊ
Weird, I wiki'ed the reason for the number part and noticed that 802.13 is not used, how can a modern technological committee (IEEE802) be superstitious like that? Seems silly, but perhaps it explains something, they are afraid of finalising draft-n because a medium or gypsy said it would bring bad luck.
i like this, i wonder if it is a software upgrade to existing equipment. i have tmobile along with uma, and this would make the handoffs from the access points in my house go rather smoothly.
no, it wont be a software upgrade to allow the use of this standard. you cant use 802.11n with 802.11g hardware can you?
blah, my first post never showed up, so i re-posted 45 min later, and NOW the first post shows up! they posting system really needs an upgrade.