SillyDog701

[Antony]

The IEEE 802.11n working group has approved the next draft version of the specification.

Temporarily dubbed draft version 1.10, it will go out as version 2.0 when it is released to the full IEEE 802.11n committee, about 400 strong, by the end of the month.

Manufacturers like Atheros, Intel, and Apple and their customers will be happy to hear that version 1.10 is compatible with the pre-802.11n products they have already created.

"It will only require a minor firmware upgrade for complete compatibility," said McFarland.

The 2.0 draft spec is expected to be mailed to the membership for comments and voting by the end of January. Voting is expected to be completed on version 2.0 by the end of March with a new draft, version 3.0, ready by the end of May.

At that time, draft 3.0 would be created, and if 75 percent of the members approve, the spec will go into recirculation balloting.

More detail at IEEE 802.11n working group approves draft 2.0 (InfoWorld, 22nd January 2007)

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[Don_HH2K]

Has anybody read about what exactly the IEEE means by "complete compatibility"? I think it goes without saying that some manufacturers aren't going to release the necessary firmware patches for some older Pre-N products, so I'm interested to see whether I can still connect to an N router using the second N draft without the patch.

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[Antony]

Has anybody read about what exactly the IEEE means by "complete compatibility"? I think it goes without saying that some manufacturers aren't going to release the necessary firmware patches for some older Pre-N products, so I'm interested to see whether I can still connect to an N router using the second N draft without the patch.

Did your laptop come with "Pre-N" or "Draft N"?

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[Don_HH2K]

I think so. Broadcom doesn't label it as either; they call it "High Speed Mode", but I have no idea whether that's draft N or some proprietary spec.

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[Antony]

Just buy an Apple Extreme BaseStation, for only US$179, and you will know if your laptop works with it on the 802.11n speed or not. Otherwise, you can always use 802.11g.

Apple Extreme BaseStation supports 802.11a, b, g, and n.

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[Don_HH2K]

I don't have that sort of money. Draft-N is faster than my wired LAN; there'd be no use for it unless I got gigabit Ethernet routed all over the place.

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