Wi-Fi Alliance: Just Say No to Pre-N

The folks at the Wi-Fi Alliance--the trade group that certifies Wi-Fi products from different vendors for compatibility--called today to share their thoughts about a coming wave of products promising superior performance to today's fastest 802.11g Wi-Fi gear, while maintaining backwards compatibility with both 802.11g and the slower 802.11b equipment.

At least some of these products are described as pre-802.11n, a reference to the next-generation IEEE Wi-Fi standard that's supposed to support maximum throughput of at least 100mbps. The nominal maximum throughput of 802.11g is 54mbps, but real-world throughput is more on the order of 10-15mbps; however, throughput for 802.11n will be calculated in a different way that won't be as far off from real-world performance.

Anyway, the Wi-Fi Alliance is concerned about the way the term "802.11n" might be bandied about, even with the "pre" prefix as a sort of disclaimer. That's because a draft standard--much less a ratified one--won't be ready for quite some time. Proposals for the spec only came due last month, and now the IEEE 802.11n working group has to sift through them (four complete proposals, 28 that address parts of the spec). An initial draft isn't expected until the end of next year, and ratification is unlikely before the end of 2006.

The Alliance therefore is urging members not to use the term "pre-N" in connection with products using technology that may be incorporated into the standard. Alliance executives say they fear that people who buy a product described as "pre-N" (such as ones coming soon from Belkin) may expect it to be compatible with whatever the final spec turns out to be--something that may not be possible. At this stage of the game, according Wi-Fi Alliance managing director Frank Hanzlik, nobody knows for sure what the hardware for 802.11n will look like, so it's risky to assume a product will be upgradeable down the road.

"We want to discourage the use of terms that suggest compliance with N, since N is not out there in any meaningful way yet," Hanzlik says.

Hanzlik says the situation with N is different from a similar situation that occurred prior to finalization of the 802.11g standard. In that case, several vendors released pre-G products that were upgradeable when the spec was approved.

But those pre-G products didn't pre-date ratification of the standard by quite so much time--they came out no more than six months earlier. At that point, the hardware was settled and only some software issues remained up in the air, so it was pretty clear that at worst the products would only need a firmware upgrade to comply with the standard. The same might not hold true for pre-N products, the Alliance says.

I saw a demo of the Belkin Pre-N router and PC Card several weeks ago, by the way, and it was impressive: Not only was throughput fast (close to 50 mbps), but we noticed improvements in range as well. We're waiting to get our own evaluation units so we can run our own tests, but if the products live up to the demo they will be an attractive option for people who want to move big files over a wireless LAN--and who don't insist on an iron-clad guarantee that their equipment will be compatible with products based on the official 802.11n spec two years from now.