Category Archives: Standards

USRobotics Delays Pre-Standard 802.11n Equipment

The 802.11n draft drama continues. Netgear is pressing forward, releasing a WiFi ADSL modem based on the non ratified draft 802.11n spec. USR on the other had has decided to hold off on thier pre-n offerings until later in the year when the standard should be more or less ratified. Which one will gain andContinue Reading

802.11n Likely To Be Delayed Even More

The 802.11n Draft 1.0 — the most recent version of next-generation wireless technology — garnered 12,000 comments from the standards-setting group IEEE according to a WNN report. To be ratified, the draft spec must be approved by 75 percent of the voting membership, and the high volume of comments indicates that a finalized version ofContinue Reading

Wireless-N Could Stand For ‘Not Interoperable’

Interoperability is key to the newly-available Wireless-N products using 802.11n draft specifications. Since the standard they’re based on isn’t yet official, users shouldn’t be swayed by promises such as four times the range and 12 times the throughput of current 802.11g standard products. While products based on the final 802.11n standard may meet those speedContinue Reading

Siemens Building Compliance Into Wi-Fi

HiPath Wireless Advanced, the latest management package for Siemens’ Wi-Fi LAN products, comes with compliance technology built right in; predefined business rules automatically check data for government regulations conformity. Advanced also comes with built-in intrusion and protection capabilities, but rather than a denial of service each time a rogue AP is mistakenly accessed, the SiemensContinue Reading

802.11w Fills Wireless Security Holes

802.11w is the latest entry into the 802.11 alphabet soup. .11w plans to extend security for wireless from just the payload part of the packet, to the managment frames as well. Currently thse frames are sent in the clear. These improvments should help prevent information about the network being leaked to an attacker. 802.11w alsoContinue Reading

A Better Path To Video-Over-WLAN

Video over wireless is something that the public wants and the vendors want to provide. However, there is quite the list of problems to be overcome first before it can really be considered a mature technology. WLAN technologies are’nt the most appropriate for video delivery, but there are some things that can be done. QoS,Continue Reading

802.11n: It’s Never Easy

The average consumer wants to have fast, easy to use wireless and they don’t want to be stuck with one manufacturer. They want to be able to have the same speed and ease of use on any wireless devices. This is the whole point of the 802.11 specifications, interoperability and reliability are key to standardsContinue Reading

How Will 802.11T Help Test Wi-Fi?

With ever demanding increases on bandwidth on networks all over, wireless systems need to be tested to be sure they can handle the demands of users in the future. The 802.11T standard is being added to the alphabet soup of 802.11 specs. 802.11T defines specifications for testing wireless gear to make sure it can handleContinue Reading

European Project To Unify Mobile Wireless Access

People want thier MTV, and now everyone wants it anywhere, anytime. With all the different wireless technologies out there it’s a nightmare for developers to try and make thier mobile apps and platforms work on different protocols and standards. A consortium of several European R&D shops and universities have started the Open Link-Layer API forContinue Reading

MIMO Clears Another Hurdle

The standards working groups have been busy working on 802.11n, finally submitting a draft this week. 802.11n allows for speeds above 100Mbps using MIMO and OFDM and other alphabet soup technologies. Now the standard has to wait for 40 days for comments to roll in and then it gets a final vote. The lack ofContinue Reading

WAPI Battle Exposes Technology Rifts With China

The problem with international standards is that everyone gets a say in the final product. When China blindsided the ISO with thier WAPI standard as a cometitor to 802.11i, it revealed a few things. First there is a large rift between what China and the rest of the world believes are secure standards, and theContinue Reading

Hurdles Still Block The Road To Faster Wi-Fi

802.11n promises much higher bandwidth over wireless to satisfy the demands for high end multimedia applications, streaming video and the like. However, as with most standards body decisions, the manufacturers are left figuring out “how the heck do impliment that?”. 802.11n seems to be no exception. Trying to span both the 2.4 and 5 GhzContinue Reading

China Reinvigorates WAPI Push

WAPI is back, with an enthusiastic new push to make it a state standard in the world’s most populous nation. You may be forgiven if you think the name “WAPI” sounds familiar, but aren’t quite sure what it means. WAPI, or Wired Authentication and Privacy Infrastructure, is the Chinese-born encryption standard that competes directly withContinue Reading

Tech CEOs Want More Wireless Airspace

Chief executive officers of some leading tech companies plan to call on Thursday for the U.S. government to allocate more wireless airspace for new applications as they emerge. Via [news.com.com]Continue Reading

Feds To Pocket $25B From Wi-Fi Licenses

The sale of U.S. wireless communications licenses is projected to raise about $25 billion between 2007 and 2009, $7.8 billion higher than last year’s estimate, according to President Bush’s 2007 budget released Monday. Via [money.cnn.com]Continue Reading