Six years after first draft version, 802.11n finally official standard

Are you pinching yourself? The IEEE has finally approved the 802.11n wireless LAN standard--three years after the Wi-Fi Alliance began certifying Draft N products and six after the first draft version of the standard and multiple draft versions.

The new wireless networking standard--designed to offer 300 mbps and higher in throughput speeds--will work with the existing W-Fi Certified Draft N wireless products. When the alliance began certifying Pre N products, it had the assurance that all of the hardware specifications wouldn't change and any updates would be software in nature. According to the Wi-Fi Alliance the majority of the existing draft standard equipment can be updated via firmware.

The move, however, raises the comfort level of enterprises that can now deploy standardized equipment. Other vendors are touting the new standard as a way for companies to raise the bar on outdoor WiFi networks, which in the past fell short of technical capabilities when it came to the promise of muni-WiFi.

For more:
- check out Cnet
- see this release

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