The result of many years of development are now upon us. As of September 2009 802.11n Wi-Fi will become an official standard.
Presently the majority of the wireless hardware you will buy (routers, wireless network cards, printers etc) will use a networking specification called 802.11g which has a maximum speed of 54Mbps. This maximum speed is being increasingly seen as inadequate as applications become more complex and require more bandwidth.
It's successor 802.11n is being improved to increase both the speed and range of wireless technology however it should be noted that due to the time the IEEE Task Group n have been arguing about the finer points, equipment manufacturers appear to have grown impatient and opted to run with the rough spec. The result being in the 802.11n becoming 'official' is unlikely to change a great deal as hardware using the new standard has been around for a while already. Even though these devices have been produced working on the draft specification, the reality is that there are minimal differences between 802.11n and the final version.
Essentially based on the current 802.11g standard, 802.11n uses some new technology and tweaks to give Wi-Fi more speed and range. The most notable part of this technology is called 'multiple input, multiple output' or MIMO for short. MIMO uses several antennas to transmit multiple data streams simultaneously rather than a single antenna transmitting just one stream of data. This allows more data to be transmitted in the same period of time while also increasing the potential range of the network.
Other technologies include payload optimisation which results in more data being transmitted in each packet and channel bonding which can use two separate non-overlapping channels at the same time to transmit data. The result is all this is achievable data transmission rates of around 100Mbps and double the potential range of 802.11g.
There are no security enhancements as they simply aren't needed; the WPA2 encryption standard provided by existing network hardware is considered by most to be 'extremely secure'.
It's worth checking the box of any network equipment you have purchased in the last couple of years as you may find it is already compatible with 802.11n and simply needs setting up correctly. It goes without saying that in order to benefit from the faster speed both the transmitting and receiving devices both have to support 802.11n; A 802.11n router working with a 802.11g laptop will result in slower 802.11g speeds.
At present 'n' rated hardware is more expensive than the older 'g' standard however not prohibitively so; our 'n' rated wireless router typically retails for around a tenner more than the £25 'g' rated equivalent. Of course, if you are already happy with your wireless network and the upgrade will mean replacing perfectly functional hardware it is certainly worth considering whether your needs warrant the faster hardware.
At present the new 802.11n wireless standard will only be required by those with very fast broadband connections or those that regularly transfer large volumes of data across an existing wireless network. I am sure it will become the norm in the not so distant future. If you are in the process of upgrading your hardware, it is certainly worth paying a couple of extra pounds to ensure that you remain prepared for future advances.
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Chris Holgate writes a weekly article of all things tech related. He is a director and copyrighter of the online computer consumables business Refresh Cartridges who sell cheap ink cartridges, toner cartridges, computer hardware and other computer consumables online. An archive of his work can be found at www.computerarticles.co.uk.
