Posted by: Paul DeBeasi
Does anyone really care that the IEEE finally ratified the 802.11n wireless standard…anyone…anyone…Bueller?
The sorry fact is that the final ratification will have virtually no impact on the wireless industry. This is because what customers care about most is product interoperability. The Wi-Fi Alliance stepped into the standards void in 2007 and began certifying product interoperability based upon IEEE 802.11n draft 2.0. The fact of the matter is that the Wi-Fi Alliance did such a great job with their 802.11n certification program as to make the final IEEE standard a non-event. The evidence for my statement is that the wireless industry currently ships over 1 million Wi-Fi products PER DAY, and well over 50% of those products are based upon 802.11n!
You can relax in knowing that no driver updates (or hardware changes!) are required for compatibility with the 802.11n standard. This is because the Wi-Fi alliance announced that they would not need to make any changes to the baseline requirements of its 802.11n certification program. So, any Wi-Fi CERTIFIED products based upon 802.11n draft 2.0 are automatically certified as interoperable with products based upon the final 802.11n standard.
… I’m still waiting…Bueller?
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