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D-Link releases RangeBooster line of draft-N gear
Probably feeling left out now that all its competitors have released gear conforming to the troubled draft-802.11n WiFi standard, D-Link has finally entered the game with a pair of routers that promise increased range and throughput over traditional 802.11/a/b/g equipment while maintaining compatibility with previously deployed products. So far the reviews we've read about similar routers from Linksys, Buffalo, and Netgear have not been all that positive, so we're not expecting too much from the 3-antenna RangeBooster N 650 and 2-antenna Rangebooster N, although the fact that you can pick up the latter for under a hundred bucks may convince you to give it a try. Still, you're probably not gonna get anywhere near the bandwidth that D-Link promises, and with the controversy over 802.11n still raging on, you're probably better off with a MIMO-equipped 802.11g model instead.Read- RangeBooster N 650Read- RangeBooster N[Via PCMag]
Netgear and Linksys get draft-n routers reviewed
With all the pain associated, usually there's a bit of a pay-off for early adopters. They are, after all, playing with the "latest and greatest," right? Doesn't seem to be the case with the three new draft-n routers that just hit the market. We already hit up the disappointing Buffalo WZR-G300N, and it seems Netgear's WNR854T and Linksys' WRT300N fared little better. In fact, neither product managed to best its own predecessor. The PC Mag reviewer did have a lot of love for the actual setup and feature set of both of these products, with snazzy parental controls from Linksys and a built-in Gigabit Ethernet switch from Netgear (a first for consumer routers) among the evident router maturity these two companies have reached. Sadly, the fun stopped there, since out of the box neither product managed much connectivity at all, and even after firmware updates the two routers marked up some pretty lame benchmarks. Netgear beat all with 124mbps at 10 feet and 105mbps at 60 feet, but its lame 28mbps at 120 feet and abysmal 2.8mbps at 160 feet were thoroughly trounced by Netgear's own RangeMax 240 pre-n product. Linksys, like Buffalo, didn't even manage a signal at 160 feet, and across the board lost to its own pre-n product, the SRX400. That's gotta hurt. As much as we love that bleeding edge, we think we're going to sit this round out, mmkay?Read - Netgear WNR854TRead - Linksys WRT300N
TRENDnet announces upcoming pre-n gear
All of the controversy, delays, and performance concerns surrounding the IEEE's notorious pre-802.11n wireless networking spec haven't deterred TRENDnet from being the latest to announce a new family of products based on the non-final version of the MIMO-powered, next-gen WiFi standard. As you'll recall, there's been no small amount of concern that pre-n gear won't play nicely with legacy 802.11a/b/g equipment, which is why TRENDnet goes it out of its way to stress the "good neighbor behavior" exhibited by its WPA and SPI-protected TEW-631BRP router and TEW-621PC PC card -- both of which use Atheros' XSPAN technology to supposedly ensure interoperability in mixed-network environments. TRENDnet promises real-world speeds of between 150Mbps and 180Mbps , which in theory should be enough to stream around a little HD content and download some torrents while you're chatting on your wireless VoIP handset about that great post you're reading on Engadget. Both new products, along with a $150 access point and a $100 PCI adapter, are scheduled to ship on July 25th, with the router priced at $130 and the card going for an even $100.
Dell to start shipping pre-N enabled laptops in Q3?
We've already seen plenty of routers, and even one laptop, embracing the pre-N standard, but industry rumblings would suggest Dell has made a large order for compatible devices that will ship in some of their third quarter lappies. Most of the time we're all for early adoption, but embedding devices that might end up being incompatible with the final version of the N standard seems awfully risky to us. Then again, we aren't billionaire business tycoons, either.
Buffalo pre-N AirStation Nfiniti reviewed
Not one to let a little thing like standards acceptance get in their way, Buffalo has forged ahead (like so many others) and released their pre-N router, the AirStation Nfiniti. In case you're wondering how it actually performs, the good folks at TrustedReviews got their hands on a unit to see if it lives up to Buffalo's claims. Which are indeed pretty impressive, touting 300 Mbps for dual channel products and a blazing 600 Mbps for products taking advantage of all four spatial data streams. Unfortunately, TrustedReviews found those numbers to be too good to be true, receiving a much more modest 75 Mbps under ideal conditions, and testing real world performance they found that drop further to 46 Mbps. Still not too shabby, but you'll have to decide if it's worth the $200 US price tag and potential obsolescence whenever the final 802.11n standard is actually ratified by the IEEE.
IEEE source: draft 802.11n timeline slipping yet again
More bad news for MIMO fans (if there is such a thing): Glenn Fleishman over at Wi-Fi Net News is reporting that an IEEE member has informed him of a delay in the timetable for expected approval of the final draft of the 802.11n Wi-Fi standard, from sometime this summer to late fall or even early winter. Fleishman's source claims that Task Group N received around 12,000 comments on the proposed draft -- compared to the 2,000-some that most drafts generate -- which is yet another bad sign following the group's earlier failure to garner even a simple majority in favor of the current proposal, much less the 75% supermajority needed for passage. With draft approval seemingly several months off at the least, it could be a year or even a year and a half before a final 802.11n standard is ratified, meaning that those folks who are already snatching up pre-N gear will have to wait even longer to find out if their hardware ends up being compatible.[Via Ars Technica]
IEEE "Task Group N" rejects first 802.11n draft proposal
In a move that came as little surprise to those who know how these things work, but that will still probably hurt manufacturers who've been releasing MIMO-enabled networking peripherals for the last few months, the IEEE 802.11 working group tasked with creating a next-gen WiFi standard has recently rejected the first draft of the highly-anticipated 802.11n. Not only did the first 802.11n draft fail to capture the 75% supermajority needed for passage, it couldn't even muster a regular majority among "Task Group N," which is a troubling development for those consumers who have already gone out and purchased pre- or draft-N gear from Linksys, Netgear, and the like. As we've reported in the past, some manufacturers had warned -- and independent testing corroborated -- that draft-N gear could negatively effect current 802.11b/g products already on the market, by hogging the available 2.5GHz bandwidth and causing performance issues on existing WLANs. Still, taken in a historical perspective, rejection of the first draft of a proposed 802.11x specification is not uncommon, and actually seems to be the rule, rather than the exception, in the life-cycle of these multi-year, multi-party standards talks.
Linksys touts draft 802.11n gear interoperability
Despite earlier concerns voiced by chipset manufacturer Airgo that draft 802.11n gear will "degrade" or "disable," current 802.11b/g networks, Linksys claims that it has tested and approved its upcoming suite of draft-n routers and adapters for interoperability with current products on the market. Since 802.11n relies on the multiple channel MIMO technology to deliver higher bandwidths, there has been some speculation that pre-N networks would dominate the spectrum designated for 802.11 communications, even though the draft specification specifically requires so-called mixed mode operation. While it's certainly reassuring to know that Linksys has been working with multiple vendors to ensure that current WiFi gear will perform at "peak levels" in the presence of 802.11n signals, the real test will come when we start seeing actual real-world deployment of these speedy new networks.
