Certification of next gen Wi-Fi starts in June

The Wi-Fi Alliance, a trade group that represents 300 Wi-Fi product vendors, will begin interoperability testing in June 2007 to certify products that meet the new 802.11n Draft 2.0 standard for wireless LANs which promises to be up to four times faster and offer twice the range as its predecessor the 802.11g.

The final ratification of the 802.11n standard that will guarantee Draft N items from different vendors to work together and with older certified Wi-Fi products is planned for March 2009, five months later than an earlier deadline projected by the IEEE standards body. Devices with n-level wireless support, however, have been available from companies such as Linksys and D-Link Systems for the past year and many of the new PCs being released recently are supporting it too.

One of the main benefits that comes from the improved speed and range of the proposed new standard is the ability to handle high-definition video over a wireless connection and better reach through walls and large spaces.