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802.11n Delayed to 2008
An anonymous reader writes "Looks like we have to wait some more for 802.11n and promised 100 Mbps speeds. IEEE has delayed ratification of the standard until 2008, yet again, due to continuing problems with interoperability and too many comments from chipset manufacturers and other interested parties. Analysts are telling firms not to deploy n until the new standard is ratified."
This is the sort of thing that could kill the NIC
Umm, excuse me, even wireless cards are NICs (Network Interface Cards.) NIC is going nowhere anytime soon.
Still waiting on Serviscope_minor to wake up to fucking reality and realize that Jessica Price isn't going to fuck him.
I believe your missing a few points; I live in an area where Verizon is rolling out FOIS at a grand scale and this has a speed that you can get today of 30 Mbps/5 Mbps. Low latency fiber connection with practically limitless upgrade potential. Plus I work in a university setting where we have wireless throughout the campus and have to separate certain services from it due to the lack of range or speed concerns. N would be an ideal product for both of these areas. I'm sure Apple and others are waiting for the home services like FOIS to become more widely adopted prior to rolling out the IPTV solutions. Think of Airport Express (Wireless iTunes) for TV in the home environment. You would need two things to make this possible..(FIOS and 802.11n) I almost forgot.. Real world speeds of existing wireless (ABG) are nowhere near their claimed rate, what's the real world expectation of 802.11n?
How much bandwidth does reading email, surfing CNN, or running SSH require?
Not that much. What does require bandwidth are the admin-type things that we all have to do (or should be doing). Backing up and/or restoring from a machine on your local network is one. Ever try to ghost a Windows system to a network share? You'll be crying for more bandwidth. Then, there's all that multimedia stuff already described in a previous post. Myself, for my personal systems, backups are all network-based, installations are networked-based, files are mostly network-based, and on some machines, home directories are networked-based. I'd imagine something similar would be appropriate or commonplace in a family-with-kids environment, to say nothing of what happens in any corporate environment. Hell, I've even set up RAID on a few systems because I found the 100Mb network too slow for backing up newer large capacity drives. And as for my laptop, unless I'm sitting in the backyard or am on the road, I leave the ethernet cable connected.
My own opinion is that any self-respecting geek would already have gigabit NICs, switches, etc. installed. For everyone else, the advantages will become obvious after the technology becomes commonplace, even for those who insist they're fine with the way things are.
I work tech support for an academic institution that will remain unnamed. A parent called up asking if we had switched to 802.11N yet. I replied that, given its draft status, we had not. He seemed appalled. He demanded to know how we could play fiddle while our network slid into antiquity. His child had to have the best and us be damned if if didn't exist in a functional form.
These companies will continue to manufacture specialty equipment based on draft N specifications for business use-- and there's nothing wrong with that. The problem lies with the Joe-sixpack consumers who don't recognize the technology's proper application.
Well, for me, the promise of 11n wasn't the speed so much as the better coverage... Right now, using a high gain omni and several repeaters to cover just the main piers and interior of a marina (repeaters on the piers for full coverage would need owner to agree to running PoE which he's refused). Had hoped that 11n would allow me to replace the current 11g router and add 2 additional antennas to the current rig and get closer to say 80% coverage...