- 802.11 non-standard equipment
802.11 non-standard equipment is equipment that seeks to extend the
Wi-Fi standard802.11 , either by implementing proprietary or draft features. Sometimes these changes may lead to incompatibilities among these extensions or with standard equipment.Non-standard 802.11 extensions and equipment
Non-standard channel bonding
Chipmaker
Atheros sells a proprietarychannel bonding feature called Super G [ [http://www.super-g.com/ Atheros Super G, Atheros Super AG, Super G, Super AG, Atheros Wireless LAN, 2.4 GHz, 5 GHz, 802.11a/b/g, 802.11g, Wireless LAN ] ] for manufacturers of access points and client cards. This feature can boost network speeds up to 108 Mbit/s by usingchannel bonding . Also range is increased to 4x the range of 802.11g and 20x the range of 802.11b. This feature may interfere with other networks and may not support all b and g client cards. In addition, packet bursting techniques are also available in some chipsets and products which will also considerably increase speeds. This feature may not be compatible with other equipment.Broadcom , another chipmaker, developed a competing proprietary frame bursting feature called "125 High Speed Mode " [ [http://www.54g.org/about_54g_speed.php Broadcom's 125 High Speed Mode consortium] ] orLinksys "SpeedBooster ", in response to criticism of Super G's interference potential.U.S. Robotics also has a "MAXg" line of wireless products boasting 125 Mbit/s (actual throughput 35 Mbit/s) and about a 75% increase in signal range from the 802.11g standard. [ [http://www.usr.com/maxg/maxg.asp?loc=unst USRobotics presents MAXg wireless: MAXg ] ] Based on tests performed by KeyLabs onMarch 23 ,2005 the MAXg series consistently outperformed the equivalent proprietary solutions and some of the "Draft 802.11n" solutions from other developers; more than one year before commercially available "pre N" or "Draft N" adapters. [ [http://www.usr.com/download/whitepapers/maxg-keylabs.pdf KL Final Report Template ] ]Pre-802.11n equipment
After the announcement of the Draft 1.0 of 802.11n, many vendors announced "pre-n"
transceiver s androuter s based upon that document. It has been reported, however, that these products can interfere with, and even disable, some current 802.11b and 802.11g wireless networks. [ [http://www.tgdaily.com/content/view/25104/103/ Airgo confirms "draft 11n" products will cripple neighboring 11b/g networks] - TG Daily] It is also uncertain whether products using draft versions of 802.11n will remain compatible with the finalized 802.11n standard. [ [http://news.com.com/2100-7351_3-6064605.html Wi-Fi consumers cautioned to wait on new gear] - CNET News.com]*On
14 April 2006 , the first draft 802.11n routers became commercially available from manufacturersLinksys ,Netgear ,Buffalo Technology ,Belkin , andD-link .
*On24 June 2006 ,Dell began shipping an optional "Draft N Internal Wireless" LAN card in their XPS and Inspiron laptops. These adapters use the Broadcom Intensi-fi chipset. [ [http://wifinetnews.com/archives/006759.html Dell Joins Draft N Delusion] - Wi-Fi Net News]
*In a September 2006 update to its line ofiMac desktop computers, Apple reportedly began using a wireless card based on a chipset that supports Draft 802.11n. [ [http://www.thinksecret.com/news/0609imac80211n.html New iMacs sport 802.11n capabilities] - Think Secret] , but '802.11n Enabler for Mac' software (which ships with Airport Extreme from9 January 2007 ) is required to enable it. Subsequent updates to theMacBook Pro in October 2006 andMacBook in November 2006 similarly included silent upgrades to Draft 802.11n-capable chipsets. [ [http://www.macrumors.com/pages/2006/10/20061026001358.shtml The First Core 2 Duo MacBook Pros Arrive Updated-802.11n] - Mac Rumors]
*Asus announced that they would guarantee final standard compatibility with its 802.11n draft products, either throughfirmware orhardware upgrades, for units purchased through31 December 2007 . [ [http://event.asus.com/2006/wireless/pren/ ASUS 802.11n Devices First to Guarantee Standard Compatibility with Upgrade Services ] ]
*Intel has been shipping draft 802.11n chips in their new Centrino/Santa Rosa chipset released in June 2007.
*Apple announced a draft 802.11nAirPort Extreme model on9 January 2007 . Apple also announced theApple TV product which features Draft 802.11n capabilities, as well as confirming that allIntel Core 2 Duo (iMac (except 17-inch, 1.83 GHz iMac),MacBook ,MacBook Pro ) andIntel Xeon based Macs (Mac Pro ) are draft-802.11n-capable, but require "enabler software" (included with the new AirPort Extreme or priced at $1.99 separately from Apple) to activate this ability.References
ee also
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Long-range Wi-Fi
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