DannyG's Wireless Wibbles

Nokia WiMAX Base Station for next year

2006-10-11T14:16:00.000+01:00

But devices won't be available until 2008.

Nokia has announced a modular WiMAX Base Station due for release in 2007.

It's not surprising the company is being proactive in this area; Nokia is a founding member of the WiMAX Forum and the mobile WiMAX standard; IEEE 802.16e-2005.

The Nokia Flexi WiMAX Base Station will be available for the 2.5 GHz band towards the end of next year and for 3.5 GHz in 1Q 2008. WiMAX-capable Nokia mobile devices are expected to be available in 2008.

Houston orders 750 Wi-Fi parking meters

2006-10-05T22:56:00.000+01:00

Mesh networks and WiMax. Impressive.

You’ve heard of Wi-Fi in coffee shops and train stations. But what about in parking meters?

The City of Houston has ordered 750 of them, called LUKE payment stations. And all will use a dedicated 802.11g mesh Wi-Fi network spread over a 1.9 square mile chunk of the city centre.

It’s the first project of its kind that doesn’t have a cellular network. The main parking meter network will then use WiMAX tech to connect to the backbone of the network.

“Using the Mesh Wi-Fi…and the WiMAX overlay for connectivity to the network backbone, puts our City at the forefront in using evolving technologies," said Janis Jefferson, Deputy Director and CTO, City of Houston.

The shape of things to come?

All the meters will accept plastic as well as hard cash. The performance of this pioneering project will be checked regularly to assess if the City can use Wi-Fi in other areas.

"A primary goal of this project is to help make parking regulation, management and enforcement more efficient,” said Liliana Rambo of the City of Houston Parking Management Division. “We are confident the combined solution…can help us meet this challenge."

One of the companies involved in the project, WFI, also recently helped another Houston project, a Mesh and IP network to help surveillance in the city’s Park and Ride car parks.

Opinion: The true meaning of Asus’ Draft-N guarantee

2006-10-05T22:53:00.000+01:00

Wow, Draft-N kit might actually be safe to buy.

Asus has announced it has guaranteed the upgradeability of both the firmware and hardware of its Draft-N kit.

While we restrain our enthusiasm for this new announcement from Asus, let’s look at a demonstrative case study.

You go online and buy Asus’ WL-500W Super Speed N wireless router and WL-100W Super Speed N wireless adapter before the end of 2006.

Bear in mind, this is exactly what we said you shouldn’t do. Why? Because of the uncertainty over 802.11n, delayed ratification date, 12,000 alterations to the Draft 1.0 specification yada yada.

You get it home and set it up.

You’re happy, because you benefit from the excellent speeds and range Draft-N has to offer. Even if it does deal with legacy kit like a Mini Metro deals with a hill climb.

Then suddenly, one day, you wake up. (That’s 2008 wireless keenos.) The world has changed. Broadcom has had to make hardware changes to its chipset.

You ring up Asus within three months. The guys send you a brand new router.

This is both good…and bad.

It’s good that Asus and Broadcom are confident in the technology. But it’s bad because, if the technology they’ve thus far created is so right, why doesn’t it work particularly well?

Communication with legacy devices is poor, while interoperability between different Draft-N chipsets is average at best. And us? We’re sticking to our guns. It’s still the case that now isn’t really the time to go out and buy Draft-N kit, even though Asus’ offer is an interesting one.

Asus is obviously trying to pimp its products using a USP that it wants to win praise for. And, to an extent, it should - ratification is nearly two years away. But the fact it is extending its guarantee to hardware has to be seen as a slight embarrassment to the chipset manufacturers and those working on the 802.11n standard.

Can you imagine the boardrooms of other wireless vendors today? The debate whether the same guarantee should be offered will surely run and run.

The comments by Broadcom’s Rahul Patel are, quite frankly, hilarious.

“While we attribute…customer confidence to the maturity of the current draft-n specification we applaud ASUS for going one step further to guarantee future compatibility.”

Mature certainly isn’t a word most would use to describe Draft-N. But then, he is Director of Marketing.

IFA 2006: Netgear’s media player is Viiv certified

2006-09-08T12:08:00.000+01:00

Long-awaited player has Intel stamp of approval.

Netgear’s long-awaited EVA700 media player has achieved Intel Viiv certification.

We’ve now been waiting for what seems like eons for this player – previously sold under the DAVE700 name in the US. Netgear demonstrated the player to us back in June, but doesn’t seem very keen on actually releasing it.

The spokesman on the Netgear stand was very coy about the player, so we photographed it on the DLNA stand instead. We’ll bring you a full report on what the DNLA had to offer tomorrow.

The Viiv sticker was also to be seen on Linksys’ Draft-N router. We’re off to quiz them about that in a minute…

Is Draft-N actually selling?

2006-09-08T11:57:00.000+01:00

Poor sales reports despite efforts to pre-certify Draft-N kit

Several sources in the Far East seem to be indicating that Draft-N wireless kits aren’t shifting as well as hoped.

Reports say that chipset makers taking fewer orders for the components used in Draft-N products by as much as a third.

This news shouldn’t be taken as a direct comment on the UK market, since most of the kits haven’t yet shipped in any quantity here. It also doesn’t tie in with the views of many networking vendors we’ve spoken to; the party line is, predictably, that the kits have been flying off US shelves.

Early adopters boosted the technology the other side of the pond with sales of around the two million mark during the late spring. However, sales over the summer seem to be a tiny fraction of those figures.

It’s no surprise to us that buyers seem to be holding off – we expect them to continue to do so. Most have stable 802.11g networks that are enough for most current needs. The fact Draft-N enables competent streaming of HD video isn’t yet a concern to most consumers.

Pre-certification planned

These rumours do add an intriguing backdrop to the Wi-Fi Alliance’s recent surprising announcement that it will ‘pre-certify’ kits based on the second draft version of the standard. Draft 2.0 will see the light of day early next year.

What is clear is that the organisation is under intense pressure from vendors. Pressure that the Wi-Fi Alliance, in turn, is passing on to the IEEE – the body responsible for creating the standard.

The approval process for 802.11n was originally supposed to be in early 2007. Almost everyone in the industry is now quoting 2008 as the time that ratification will finally happen.

The Wi-Fi Alliance has previously threatened to ignore the IEEE and push forward with its own interpretation of the standard. That’s unlikely, and will only become a serious threat if the IEEE can not get the required 75 per cent of approval by its members for 802.11n by the time the next draft hits the shelves.

D-Link launches DIR-635 router and other Draft-N kit

2006-09-06T17:32:00.000+01:00

Also launches DSM-520 Wireless HD Media Player

D-Link has shown us its range of Draft-N kit for the UK market.

The new range, the Rangebooster N 650 includes the DIR-635 router, DWA-645 PC Card DWA-547 PCI card and DWA-142 USB adapter (coming soon). The DAP-1353, a simple wireless access point, is also available.

Next month will see an ADSL version of the router launched, the DSL-2740. A Gigabit Ethernet version of the router will also be available in due course.

The company also introduced it's new media streamer, the DSM-520. It has HDMI and supports XviD and HD streaming up to 1080i - we're going to be testing it over the coming days.

Intel patches holes in Centrino

2006-08-09T17:45:00.000+01:00

Leak in wireless drivers and software duly plugged

Concerns have risen about the security of Intel’s Centrino platform after Intel released a raft of updates to device drivers and ProSet wireless management software.

The fixes address several small issues. One prevents attacks via the Wi-Fi connection – even from other wireless-enabled devices while another prevents a would-be attacker from gaining control of the system. The latter issue was with the driver software. However, it’s worth noting that there are no known exploits which would have taken advantage of these vulnerabilities.

You can download the software from the link below but be warned, at 129MB it is rather large, something which has drawn criticism from the security community. The download does contain a completely new version of the software though.

The flaws do give slight resurgence to the continuing debate about just how secure Wi-Fi really is. On a corporate level companies are still often reluctant to deploy Wi-Fi networks because of security fears.

Download the patches here.

Netgear buys SkipJam

2006-08-09T17:38:00.000+01:00

Networking giant makes movie into home automation

In a welcome respite from the raging debate about Draft-N wireless kit, Netgear has tied up a deal to acquire SkipJam Corp.

SkipJam produces integrated software for centralised control of entertainment kit in the home. The New York company’s technology enables automation of audio-visual kit and will allow other devices to be built into Netgear’s standard networking products.

Netgear clearly hopes to use SkipJam’s expertise in future generations of entertainment kit such as the MP101 digital music player and the non-UK DAVE700 streaming box.

Commenting on the acquisition, Patrick Lo, chairman and CEO of Netgear, said: “SkipJam has the unique software technology to become the platform for our multimedia product portfolio in the growing category of digital home entertainment and control.”

The agreement will cost Netgear a total of $9m (£4.8m), including an incentive package for the SkipJam engineering team, which Netgear wants to retain.

Networked entertainment and automation has recently sparked interest from several networking vendors, not least Linksys, which acquired Danish Kiss Technology for $61m in July 2005. Linksys makes no secret of its desire to expand its digital home offering.

Mobile WiMax base stations launched

2006-07-04T15:01:00.000+01:00

Adaptix boxes will be firmware upgradeable

Apdaptix has announced mobile Wimax base stations reports Engadget. It may be slightly premature, but the boxes are compatible with IEEE 802.16e-2005 and firmware upgradeable for later developments.

Broadcom ships 100 millionth Wi-Fi chipset

2006-07-04T10:14:00.000+01:00

54g biggest seller ever. Surprise, surprise

Chipset giant Broadcom has announced it has now shipped 100 million 54g Wi-Fi chipsets. 54g has unsurprisingly been the industry's buggest seller ever, but the figures still provide highlight just how mainstream wireless tech has now become. Note the figures are cited as '54g' and not '802.11g' so the company can include sales of the non-standard chipsets it has prepared in the past.

Broadcom was also the largest supplier of chipsets in the first quarter of 2006, with partners including Belkin, Buffalo, Linksys, Netgear and USRobotics. Several of these manufacturers have also taken Broadcom's new Draft-N Intensi-fi chipset. We've seen it in Netgear's RangeMax NEXT and Buffalo's Nfiniti kits.

Broadcom also partners with AMD on the notebook front as the pair battle against Intel's Centrino processor and wireless combo.

Draft-N in the office!

2006-05-26T17:27:00.000+01:00

Our first Draft-N unit, the Buffalo Nfiniti, is here! Here's an over-stylised image!

MIMO and G

2006-05-26T14:39:00.000+01:00

Cheap but not so cheerful

As if attempting to confuse and confound the consumer further, Belkin has sent us this brand new kit. It's branded G+ MIMO and is designed to fit in between Super-G and MIMO proper - what Belkin misleadingly calls Pre-N. The object of this kit is essentially that it uses a cheaper version of Airgo's MIMO chipset - therefore passing on the cost savings to the consumer. But this premise isn't quite true. Dixons has listed the ADSL version of the kit for £89.99 which isn't a lot less than the £106 Broadband Buyer is charging for full-fat MIMO. In any case, it only has two antennae, so it's not designed to have either the throughput or range of the full-blown version. Mind you, range is still pretty good (benchmarks to follow) so might be worth buying if you can find a cheap unit, or DSG put it on special...

No, not MIMO!

2006-05-23T12:18:00.000+01:00

Some still suggesting MIMO as best compromise

Glenn Fleishman and Becky Waring are right to point out the limitations of Draft-N kits. But where I think they're slightly wide of the mark is what they have to say about MIMO. Both are set against users buying Draft-N. And rightly so. But Fleishman, while right to say consumers should wait, suggests that if they can't because of the need for extra range, they should buy MIMO. I don't believe in this. If they're willing to take a risk, Draft-N is the route to go. While there is a lot of controversy about it, there is a very, very good chance that Draft-N will be firmware upgradeable to 802.11n. Secondly, the Gen3 Airgo MIMO chips don't offer great interoperability. Indeed, they seriously compromise surrounding networks. Original MIMO units may be a good interim solution. But, with the bigger picture in mind, we should be encouraging end users to bide their time. Waring, on the other hand, seems to suggest that Draft-N is inferior to Airgo's Gen3 chips because of the poorer throughput. But end users should not be encouraged to pick up boxes such as the Linksys SRX400; owing to worries at the companies concerned, kits featuring Gen3 chips from Buffalo, Netgear and Linksys hardly appeared on UK shores, especially when Draft-N was in sight. And indeed, while Draft-N isn't ideal, at least it has some kind of future.

12,000 good reasons

2006-05-23T12:13:00.000+01:00

IEEE deluged by comments on Draft-N

When the IEEE 'agreed' on version 1.0 of the Draft-N poposal, it wasn't expecting over 12,000 comments on it. This has serious implications for the release of a Draft 2.0 version, but probably won't delay next year's slated date for ratification. It all depends whether any of the comments are significantly worthy, and whether the big silicon manufacturers are prepared to render the already released Draft-N kit incompatible with the eventual 802.11n standard. Sources we've spoken to suggest that it's possible to do a hell of a lot with the firmware in these kits, since the deluge of comments weren't completely unexpected.

Tom's silly season

2006-05-23T12:05:00.000+01:00

Site implores people to get Draft-N kits. Oh dear.

An interesting if ranty piece over at Tom's Hardware, implying that it's 'our duty as consumers' to buy Draft-N kits. It isn't. The trouble with imporing people to buy it now is that, while we as journalists get the chance to play with this stuff for free, Man On The Street has to commit not inconsiderable amounts of cash to such folly. Wait for the second revision. Unless you're willing to risk it for garden-based Wi-Fi in time for summer. Mind you, nice weather doesn't seem likely at the moment...

Draft-N in action

2006-05-23T11:43:00.000+01:00

Tales from a London demo

Yesterday I went to London to see 802.11n in action. Inside a well-worn meeting room at the Hilton Olympia, Buffalo and Broadcom had set up a selection of laptops linked to a Buffalo Nfiniti Draft-N router. This was in turn plugged into a Buffalo Terastation Pro handily stocked with stored HD content.

The first part of the demo involved the transfer of several HD streams from the Terastation onto various laptops along the desks. I witnessed 15Mbps and 20Mbps streams being transferred simultaneously. It worked brilliantly. Craig Reid, Product Specialist for Buffalo assured me they had managed to get three simultaneous streams working, but as everyone in the hotel got up and started to use the hotel Wi-Fi, there was obvious signal degredation. Due to technical problems with one of the laptops, I didn't see a Chariot test in action, but earlier results had indicated results upwards of 120Mbps - that's seriously good. We'll get the chance to have a play ourselves later this week.

Broadcom was also using an excellent spectrum analyser called the Wi-Spy. It's only GBP100 and picks up any signals in the 2.4GHz spectrum. Easy interference spotting, then. However, lack of 5GHz compatibility could limit its usefulness.

Netgear NEXT goes ADSL

2006-05-23T11:37:00.000+01:00

First to market with solution

Netgear has announced it will be the first to launch an ADSL version of it's Draft-N Router from the RangeMax NEXT range. As the company hasn't bothered to send us the image we requested, take a look at the router - coded DG834N - here. The modem is pretty future proof - it's ADSL2+ compatible while security is tighter than ever with an SPI Double Firewall. The other kits in Netgear's RangeMax NEXT list are the Wireless Router Gigabit Edition with 10/100/1000 Switch (WNR854T) and Notebook Adapter Gigabit Edition (WN511T), RangeMax NEXT Wireless Router with 10/100 Switch (WNR834B) and RangeMax NEXT Wireless Notebook Adapter (WN511B). Note the special Gigabit Ethernet editions.

Wireless Wii

2006-05-18T11:49:00.000+01:00

Controllers use Bluetooth

Broadcom has announed it will be the supplier of Wi-Fi and Bluetooth chipsets for Nintendo's new Wii console. The Bluetooth element is crucial, since the Wii uses it for its wireless controllers. Wi-Fi will also be seamlessly integrated, unlike with the Xbox 360.

What Airgo did next

2006-05-04T10:46:00.000+01:00

Bitter statement says 'we told you so'

Airgo has now released the full text of it's statement to us. And it's clear that there is more than a little bit of bile.

"The rejection of Draft 1.0 by the working group highlights the clear desire for significant changes to the draft. The most significant changes required are changes to improve interoperability with legacy devices; Draft 1.0 is clearly deficient in protecting the operation of installed networks. By the end of 2006 there will be around 80M installed .11b/g networks and these need better protection than Draft 1.0 can offer."

This is fair enough. Draft 1.0 is clearly not ideal. Time for the stock quote from the boss, then...

"This is exactly what the standards process is for – to identify flaws and ensure they are addressed for the best interests of the consumer,” said Greg Raleigh, CEO of Airgo Networks. “While we are extremely keen to see a fully ratified standard as soon as possible, we believe performance, ease of use and interoperability are absolutely critical and the standard must support these requirements. Since the Draft 1.0 fell short on several important areas we are pleased to see they will all be addressed in the next draft."

Yes, yes, we know all that. And yes, the draft will address the issues. So now it's time for the hammerblow.

"Today’s outcome proves that Draft 1.0 was not as stable as some in the industry would have us believe. It calls into question the validity of so-called ‘draft n’ products. Airgo will continue to pursue its strategy of waiting until a more mature, stable draft is established before introducing products that comply. In the meantime, we continue to offer the highest-performing, most mature MIMO product on the market and are confident that consumers will continue to choose the superior performance our chips offer."

Wait. So that's the same high performing MIMO chipsets that have been shown to blow everything else out of the water? Oh Greg, you were doing so well with your holier than thou stance...

Don’t buy Draft N hardware

2006-05-03T17:20:00.000+01:00

Yep, you heard us right.

If you want to rush out and buy Draft N kit, forget it. Really. We really are telling you not to get the latest and greatest. Because, while it’s the latest, an Achilles heel in the way the Draft N spec has been put together ensures that, at the moment, it isn’t the greatest and is very much Rev A.

Here’s the rub; every networking vendor is seeking to make a quick buck by shipping Draft N kits now. After all, they want consumers to buy wireless kit more regularly than there are new IEEE standards. So vendors release interim models, such as the recent spate of non-standard MIMO kits. And now that Draft N has been agreed, companies want to release firmware upgradeable kits now so they can cash in on you, the early adopter, much as they did with 802.11g.

Several weeks ago Airgo, makers of the True MIMO chipsets, made a fuss about the new 802.11n wireless standard causing interference with legacy 802.11b and g networks. The damage caused to Draft N was major, meaning that yesterday less than half of the IEEE votes – 46.6 per cent - were for approval. Oops indeed. However, this course of events isn’t unexpected given the recent unease around Draft N. But, while not likely, it means things can change beyond the point at which they’d be firmware upgradeable. However, this is really rather unlikely, especially given the kits are already onsale in the US.

What’s the craic?

The major issue centres around a 40MHz channel bonded mode of the draft standard which uses MIMO technology. Think of this as a turbo mode that may not be on all the routers being released. 40GHz has a problem since there are just three channels in the 2.4Ghz band that don’t already have a problem with overlapping.

“We find it rather ironic that Airgo is on one hand promoting its third-generation chipsets, which do cause interference with legacy devices, and on the other hand warning the public regarding the 1.0 draft specification,” said Atheros’ CTO Bill McFarland previous to the latest vote. The third generation of Airgo’s MIMO chipset, as featured in products including the Netgear RangeMax 240 and Linksys SRX 400 range has been criticised for the ‘bad neighbour’ syndrome.

“Any new changes will have to receive 75 per cent approval,” continued McFarland. “Additionally, companies have already been discussing the best techniques for the 802.11n standard for several years now. It’s very unlikely that a new technique would be introduced at this stage…”

2.0 inevitable

However, the recent development almost certainly means a second draft standard will be released. Airgo wasted no time to release a boastful statement: “Draft 1.0 is clearly deficient in protecting the operation of installed networks,” said Airgo CEO Greg Raleigh as he referred to early US comments on the Draft 802.11n kits being less than good neighbours for legacy Wi-Fi. Airgo was right to bring the issue to the fore, but wrong to position itself as being whiter than white.
Atheros and Broadcom also felt moved to comment on the events. Bill Bunch, Director of Product Marketing at Broadcom said the latest development was “typical at this stage”.

McFarland also set out the company line: “The 1.0 draft specification is still the one and only working draft,” he states. “The bar for the final 802.11n standard is set very high and we will go through several more ballots. A 'No' vote at this stage does not indicate that there will be radical changes to the standard.” And unlikely it is. But that little shred of doubt means you’d be more than a little silly to spend your hard earned cash on kit that might be a bad neighbour when 802.11n is finally ratified.

Belkin shines

2006-05-03T12:23:00.000+01:00

It's got cool lights, too

Here's Belkin's new and imaginatively-named N1 Draft 802.11n kit. Leaving outmoded partner Airgo well and truly in the dust, Belkin has turned to Atheros and its XSPAN technology. Unlike Linksys, Belkin has also launched a PCI card adapter, with interesting trident antenna combo. The N1 also features a 'Network Status Display' that shows you the network status in icon form. It, and the rather luscious shiny finish, should mean the N1 looks fantastic, though the proof is in the pudding naturally. We've asked Belkin when we might see one, but seeing as the kit won't ship in even the US until June 1st, we're not holding our breath. They might be nice to us though.

Here's the kit with product codes and US pricing.

Router (F5D8231-4) – $149.99

Notebook Card (F5D8011) – $99.99

• Desktop Card (F5D8001) – $119.99

It's all about the look

2006-05-02T12:31:00.000+01:00

Linksys reveals its new range

After previously being critical of Linksys' boring design ethos, I'm pleased the company has made special effort with its recently announced range of Draft 802.11n kit. The special effort being? It's silver for the EU market. In other territories the kits remain respondently Linksys blue. But while the colour scheme is better, it doesn't disguise that the remainder of the unit is BUTT UGLY. This one is the Wireless-N Broadband Router (WRT300N), while the company has also announced a Wireless-N Gateway (WAG300N). These kits are aimed at SOHO markets, but expect more consumer-orientated devices later in the year - hopefully when it's a little safer to buy 802.11n kits. Oh, and there's only one adapter for the moment, too, the Wireless-N Notebook Adapter (WPC300N). Expect them all to be rather costly, with suggested prices of £169 and £129 for the routers and a rather frightening £99 for the adapter.

Broadcom ships draft 802.11n chipsets

2006-04-26T10:20:00.000+01:00

Pre-ratification headache

Broadcom has shipped its first consignments of its draft 802.11n chipsets to vendors. Called Intensi-fi wireless LAN technology, the silicon will be used in kit from Buffalo Technology, Netgear and US Robotics among others. The company claims real-world throughput of more than 180Mbps, though we look forward to getting our hands on some of the kit to see just how 'real-world' that actually is...

Draft 802.11n ‘causes interference’

2006-04-25T12:55:00.000+01:00

Spanner in the works

According to Airgo, the draft version of the new 802.11n wireless standard will cause interference with legacy 802.11b and g networks. Airgo, maker of the True MIMO chipsets featured in kits including those from Belkin, Netgear and Buffalo, has made an incredible statement about version 1.0 of draft IEEE standard, approved by the IEEE 802.11 working group on March 10 in Denver. The timing is designed to be devastating for the standard. Netgear has publicly declared it’s intention to release draft 802.11n kit in the first half of this year, while others will be similarly timed. In a statement released to us, Airgo claims that if draft 1.0 kits are released “they will severely degrade – or even disable – nearby 802.11b and 802.11g networks.” Airgo is clearly hoping to start a fight with the release of this statement, which comes despite an 87 per cent approval rate for the draft at the meeting. “A few chipset companies are attempting to develop chip designs based on early, less stable versions of the draft and are resisting all proposed improvements to the specification because they do not wish to ‘respin’ their chips,” the statement continues.

The problem centres around a 40MHz channel bonded mode of the draft standard which uses MIMO technology. Think of this as a turbo mode that may not be on all the routers being released. 40GHz has a problem since there are just three channels in the 2.4Ghz band that don’t already have a problem with overlapping. Craig Reid, Product Specialist for Buffalo Technology explains the draft: “It is mandatory to have 20MHz channels and 40MHz is optional. Only if the chipset vendors like Atheros, Broadcom and Marvell use this 40MHz option…[the draft will] inhibit the 802.11b/g networks that currently exists. The truth is that if you use a 40MHz channel bonded solution then there is simply no room available for anything else in the channel spectrum.” Buffalo isn’t planning to go this route. “As Buffalo is a Japanese company we are pushing for 20MHz channel bonding because in Japan it is not legal to use 40MHz channels in the 2.4GHz frequency,” explains Reid.

Atheros’ CTO Bill McFarland told us that changes to the 1.0 draft are possible, but unlikely: “Any new changes will have to receive 75 per cent approval. Additionally, companies have already been discussing the best techniques for the 802.11n standard for several years now. It’s very unlikely that a new technique would be introduced at this stage….” An ad-hoc group, led by Motorola and Cisco, has been created to look at the 40MHz issue, something that Airgo refers to in its statement as a ‘deficiency’ in the draft standard. This group will report in May. “Atheros’ position is that the implementation of avoidance technologies should be clearly defined and mandatory,” says McFarland. His company is clearly planning to release channel-bonded kit but says this will not cause interference problems.

“Atheros-based devices intelligently select 40 MHz mode only when adjacent channels are free. Silicon based on the 1.0 draft does contain elements to mitigate interference with legacy devices. Atheros will guarantee that its chips include avoidance technologies,” he says. It’s known that the third generation of Airgo’s MIMO chipset, as featured in products including the Netgear RangeMax 240 and Linksys SRX 400 range does have the ‘bad neighbour’ syndrome that Airgo is referring to. “Don't forget, the first company that launched product with the unsocial 40MHz channel bonding technology was Airgo,” continues Reid.

McFarland looks ready for a fight. “We find it rather ironic that Airgo is on one hand promoting its third-generation chipsets, which do cause interference with legacy devices, and on the other hand warning the public regarding the 1.0 draft specification,” he states. “It is a fact that Airgo’s third-generation chipsets are not upgradeable to the 1.0 draft. As a result, one could assume that Airgo is trying to slow down the momentum for the 802.11n standard or otherwise cast doubts on the 1.0 draft specification. In a desperate attempt to preserve MIMO market share, Airgo is trying to create confusion in the market so they can continue to sell their own proprietary third-generation chipsets while creating FUD about competitors’ chipsets.”

Netgear to use Marvell

2006-04-25T12:54:00.000+01:00

Netgear is to use Marvell chipsets in its new Draft N kit....

"Marvell, today announced that Netgear has deployed its Marvell TopDog™ branded family of 802.11n IEEE draft compliant silicon products, Netgear’s new PC client and wireless routers based on the Marvell TopDog family are the first available 802.11n IEEE compliant Wireless LAN consumer products in the market."