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Monday, June 20, 2005 4:24 PM PT Posted by Yardena Arar
Cheaper Next-Gen Wi-Fi Explained
If you've been yearning for one of those new range- and speed-improving Wi-Fi products, but haven't wanted to shell out $150 to $200 for a new router and $99-$129 for a notebook card, there's good news for you today: Airgo Networks, whose True MIMO chips power some of the best next-gen equipment we've seen (especially at improving range), has just announced a new line of chips intended to power products that will sell at mainstream 802.11g prices.Airgo CEO Greg Raleigh says the company's new True G chips will be available shortly in routers costing about $69-$99, and PC Cards for $79 or $89.
True G products won't pack the power of True MIMO gear--among other things, they will only have two antennas to send and receive signals, compared to three receiving antennas that help make True MIMO-based products (available from Belkin, Buffalo, Linksys, and Netgear) so speedy. But Raleigh says True G-based Wi-Fi gear will still be faster and provide greater range than competing 802.11g products.
We'll be waiting to try out these less expensive, next-generation products. In the meantime, Raleigh says we'll also be seeing some moderate price cuts for True MIMO products: They won't be as cheap as True G, but they'll cost less than they have been going for. Sounds like good news for all sorts of Wi-Fi budgets.
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I'm afraid that companies will sell True G chips as MIMO. And that True G will confuse people. Is G true G?
Oy. This gets to the general confusion over MIMO. Lots of vendors are using the term for lots of technologies, and customers are basically on their own to figure out which products are using which technologies.
We at PC World try to sort this stuff out for our readers. The thing to remember here is that True G (upper-case T, upper-case G) and True MIMO are trademarks belonging to one company (Airgo Networks) that is making MIMO chips for several vendors. True MIMO is their top-of-the-line chip, True G is their midrange product. So True G is, in fact, MIMO technology.
Think of it like DSL: Many ISPs offer different DSL speeds at different price points. True MIMO and True G are just different variants of the same technology that deliver different performance and are priced accordingly.
I have an Atheros AR5005GS Wireless Network running on a Toshiba A75 laptop. Using a D-Link running thru a D-Link 61+ 4 port wireless router. Top speed is 11MB even though it boasts "22 mps". Will switching to the Belkin pre-n or the one of the other True G chip products help speed up my wireless conection? Would I also have to purchase the accompaning adapter cards to really see the diffeence? Please advise & Thanks