802.11n Wi-Fi standard finally approved

By Dong Ngo on 14 September 2009

The IEEE has finally approved the 802.11n high-throughput wireless LAN standard.

Finalisation of the new wireless networking standard — which is capable of delivering throughput speeds up to 300 megabits per second (and even higher)— took exactly seven years from the day it was conceived, or six years from the first draft version. The standard has been through a dozen or so draft versions.

Finally, the Draft will now be taken off this logo. (Credit: IEEE)

News of the ratification broke via a blog post displaying an email sent by Bruce Kraemer, long-time chairman of the 802.11n Task Group, to task group members. The 802.11n Task Group is part of the 802.11 Working Group, which oversees WLAN (wireless local-area network) standards. Task group members include the majority of Wi-Fi chipmakers, software developers and equipment OEM vendors.

According to the Wi-Fi Alliance, the group that tests and certifies wireless products to ensure their interoperability, all existing Wi-Fi Certified Draft N wireless products will still work with the final standard.

802.11n offers much higher speeds than the previous, already-ratified 802.11g, which caps at only 54Mbps. Due to the compelling higher speed, most wireless vendors haven been offering 802.11n-based (also known as Wireless-N) products during the past six years and calling them Draft N products. Now the Draft is no more.

According to the Wi-Fi Alliance, most, if not all, of the existing equipment can be upgraded to the final specification via a firmware update. Finally, all future wireless networking products will be compatible with today's products that have been Wi-Fi-certified.

Topics: draft n, n, wireless, ratified, draft, 802.11n, wi fi, product, group, finally

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Comments (4)

  • Dean commented on 14/09/2009 17:01 Report abuse

    HTML5 has been in draft for 5 years and certainly doesn't look like it'll be ratified within the next year. C++0x has been in draft since 2003 (at least) and probably won't be a published standard until 2011. CSS 2.1 has been in draft status since around 2002. So let's just say that 802.11n is certainly not alone...

  • JohnA123 commented on 14/09/2009 13:54 Report abuse

    It doesn't change much for consumers Bennettnz but it does make a big difference to large orgnaisations who can now safely buy 802.11n equipment knowing they won't have to replace their large investment because something in the standard changes.

  • user1 commented on 14/09/2009 13:36 Report abuse

    6 years to pass. amazing slow progress.

  • bennettnz commented on 14/09/2009 11:55 Report abuse

    6 years to ratify this standard, ridiculous. What does this change for consumers - nothing. We're already using the draft and have been for over three years. Technology is a fast moving animal and we need a body of experts that can adapt and move quickly with the times, they should be ashamed at their progress.

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