NetStumbler.com

In-Stat sees a “bumpy” transition from IEEE 802.11b/g Wi-Fi to the next-gen 802.11n standard. The analyst firm believes the move to 802.11n will be more difficult than that to 802.11g from 802.11b. Though formal ratification of the IEEE 802.11n wireless Lan standard may not happen until next year, wireless networking firms have already developed products such as routers, clients and access points based on draft 1.0 of the emerging standard. According to In-Stat analyst Victoria Fodale, “buyers of these products are early adopters willing to pay two to three times the price of standard 802.11g products.”
Via [vnunet.com]

Sen. Charles Schumer, a Democrat from New York, is hoping to bring WiFi broadband service to smaller cities and rural areas. Schumer’s plan involves extending tax breaks to companies installing wireline broadband equipment. The Broadband Tax Enhancement Act, S1147, has already been approved by the Senate Finance Committee in early July and is awaiting further action.
Via [wirelessweek.com]

The second draft of the proposed IEEE standard for 100+Mbps wireless LANs will have to wait until January 2007, months later than many had hoped. The task group responsible for the development of the 802.11n standard is sifting through 12,000 comments to draft 1.0, half of which have already been addressed. Bill McFarland, CTO for Atheros Communications, a WLAN chip vendor, called the process “tedious and time-consuming.” Once the review is done, the task group will put the draft into a letter ballot, which would need the endorsement of 75 percent of the panel’s members in order for the standard to be accepted. This would signal that the draft has attained a level of stability that would open the market for a new generation of radio chipsets and products based on the said standard. The standard is expected to get final approval in early 2008.
Via [pcadvisor.co.uk]