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Belkin's N1 pre-N WiFi line
Not afraid of the big bad (somewhat uncertain) upgrade path? More 802.11n-draft wireless networking gear, coming through today, this time from Belkin. Say hello to their N1 line of gear based on Atheros XSPAN chipsets, which come in the form of a $99.99 PC card (sorry, no ExpressCard yet), $119.99 PCI card with antennae (F5D8001), USB adapter (F5D8051) later this year, and pleasantly affordable $149.99 router (F5D8231-4). Of course, we're making no claims whatsoever that you should run out and grab these if it's 300Mbps wireless you're after; but if you're ready to take the plunge these could be as good as any, and seem to stand an equal chance of actually being compliant with 802.11n when it's approved by the IEEE some time in 2015.
Pre-N WiFi gear: consider yourself warned
So for those not following the IEEE 802.11n draft spec pending approval and ratification, it could still be a while before that gets sorted out and "true" 802.11n gear hits the market. Of course, that hasn't stopped manufacturers from making 802.11n-speed (or faster) and MIMO wireless devices for the past couple of years, but now that the spec drafts are merged into one, the first "proper" pre-N chipsets are hitting the market, and finding their way into actual devices. However, eWeek and the Farpoint Group advise a big caveat emptor on pre-N purchases, as early gear tested by the two has shown issues from incompatibility to poor performance and range that's sub-par to existing non pre-N Airgo Gen 3 True MIMO chipset-based devices. So do you really need that pre-N gear that much? Obviously it's your call, but being an early adopter does have its tradeoffs.
