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Belkin Offering Pre-802.11N Products
redshield3 writes "Belkin is offering what it is calling "pre-802.11n" products for mass consumers now. CompUSA is reportedly carrying these items in stores. They claim 800% range improvement over 802.11g as well as full backwards compatibility and the ability to continue pushing out n-speeds when a 802.11g or 802.11b device is introduced to the network."
This is not new news, they were advertising them in november.
Are they using real "n" technology? Or is it just their particular flavor of "n"?
Well, it seems to work for 802.11g now, which will continue to work once 802.11n is ratified. So, if it isn't much more expensive, you haven't lost much, do you?
Bert
Because 802.11n is not ratified yet, and will almost definitely change from the draft it is now. What Belkin has done was intergrate some of the proposed improvements that we can expect. However, they may not be in final form, so if the draft changes much, the products will no longer be compatable. This may be as easy to fix as a firmware update or driver download, or it may leave you with a bunch of equiptment that is not compatable with anything else. Also, I am not sure of this, but if 802.11n is already considered a standard, even an unratified one, then Belkin could get sued for using the name if their products do no conform to the final standard.
Because all the intervening letters are taken up by other protocols, or proposed protocols, not just wireless speeds.
For example, 802.11i is an enhanced security protocol, 802.11x is also security related. There's a bunch more.
Some of the letters are explained here. Still lots of gaps, but they likely fall under the 'proposed protocol, noone's bothered implementing it yet' category.
Just like IPv5, a lot of proposed standards get shelved for all kinds of reasons. Even though 802.11h never made it to production, the proposal still exists somewhere and naming something else 802.11h would be very confusing to the people involved. Usually we have catchy marketing terms insulating consumers from the technical versioning, but not in this case.
After 802.11z comes 802.11aa. Other parts of the 802 standard go into the double letters.
-B
Linksys WRT54GX: http://www.linksys.com/products/product.asp?prid=6 70&scid=35 is a unofficial pre-N router.
Anyone want to take a guess why 802.11n takes 3 antenna and 802.11g has two or one?
"Those who would sacrifice an essential liberty, for security, will get, and deserve nether." - Benjamin Franklin
When 802.11n is ratified possibly as late as Nov. 2006, it will likely include speeds at least twice as high as the Belkin product. There are a few different MIMO proposals under consideration, and they will likely be merged with faster speeds and options as optional and a lower speed and tech as mandatory.
But the problem with Belkin and other MIMO solutions is that even if they turn out to be fully 802.11n compatible, they won't do the highest possible speeds. Those highest speeds will likely not cost any more (and maybe less) than the pre-N/MIMO stuff costs today.
So EVEN if you'll be able to upgrade MIMO now to 802.11n in 2006--and that's a huge if and no companies are promising this even in the slighest--you won't get the real speed bump that 802.11n promises.
If you don't need 50 to 70 Mbps of real throughput on your network today, stick with cheap, interoperable 802.11g.
Freelance tech journalist for the Economist, MIT Technology Review, Macworld, and others
NetGear or Linksys already made Pre-802.11N equipment.
I hope that Linksys will give free firmware updates being how good they are right now.
Debugging? Klingons do not debug. Bugs are good for building character in the user.
Google "pre-n review" and you get
Belkin Wireless Pre-N Router
From this link:
we measured throughput of 40.7 Mbps at 60 feet from the router (where 802.11g products typically deliver 15 Mbps)
So at 60 feet, they were getting 40.7 full duplexed, 81.4 half. Considering wireless overhead that must be involved, that isn't bad throughput.
What is most interesting is that the throughput at 1 foot from the router was actually less than at 60 feet by over 20 Mbps.
How many read this and said, WOW, I can go a km instead of this lousy 125m range I've got now?
Visiting the parent referenced product description we learn that the statement, "They claim 800% range improvement over 802.11g" is
UNTRUE!
What they claim is 800% coverage improvement over 802.11g.
The most gross correction comes if you note:
The volume, or coverage, in which the thing will operate may be 800% greater, but volume goes as a cube of length (distance, range, radius, depending on contextual semantics). So your 800% coverage improvement translates to a 200% range increase.
Add to this the myriad of devilish details which arise in any product comparison and the real world reange increase may be well less than times two.
Now I'm the grandest Tiger in the Jungle!
The WRT54GX uses the same chips if you'd rather buy from Linksys than Belkin.
Its not a trademark, but an IEEE standard. To make a product labeled to support a standard that actually doesn't is false advertising, which is an offense.