No WiFi In 'Grantsdale' Chipset

bizpile writes "A company spokesman confirmed Friday, Intel has decided not to enable the wireless access-point functionality in its 'Grantsdale" chipset. Intel decided not to include this feature because of the proliferation of cheap wireless access points. Spokesman Dan Snyder said, 'So many wireless APs are out there, and they're essentially free" when purchased in conjunction with DSL or cable service from an ISP. The company may still develop a custom chipset to re-enable the WiFi functionality if a large customer requests it. Also, their Centrino plans and production will be unchanged."

Comments

Have they fixed Centrino yet?

[multiplexo]

My experience with Centrino was that it didn't work. I ended up installing PCMCIA cards to get wireless support. Maybe I didn't have the right drivers, in the commercials I saw people surfing the net in the Acropolis (perhaps it's now an 802.11x hotspot), I couldn't get consistent performance 15 feet from the access point with a clear line of sight.

Other than economics I wonder why Intel just doesn't produce a kick-ass mini-PCI card that supports the various wireless standards and then flog the Hell out of it to the PC makers. The mini-PCI approach, combined with well designed internal antennas works very well for the Macintosh.