No More Draft N

[JackMDS]

http://news.cnet.com/8301-1035...newsEditorsPicksArea.0

 

[RebateMonger]

Wow. I feel like I just finished a long-term pregnancy.

 

[spidey07]

Pardon my french - BUT IT'S ABOUT FUCKING TIME!!!

Good news indeed.

 

[ChAoTiCpInOy]

How likely is it that our Draft-N routers will be able to be updated to the standard?

 

[spidey07]

Originally posted by: ChAoTiCpInOy
How likely is it that our Draft-N routers will be able to be updated to the standard?

That remains to be seen and will depend on manufacturer/model. For sure everybody should not purchase anything until this is answered.

"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."

 

[JackMDS]

The key words are "Wi-Fi-certified".

Not too many were "Wi-Fi-certified".

 

[WildHorse]

``

 

[her209]

X is the new N.

 

[kevnich2]

Correct me if I'm wrong on this but part of the deal with the current Draft N hardware was that OEM's could still sell the exact same hardware that was with Draft N and could re-badge it as 802.11N certified with no actual changes at all to the firmware so they wouldn't have to spend more money on manufacturing new products and then at some point down the road they could actually make a new product that had all the upgraded features of the new certification. Basically it makes it more difficult for consumers in that they have to do more research on individual products to see if the features of the product are from the certification or from the DraftN.

I was not happy about this, I think all current products should remain draft N unless they got a new firmware update to include all of the new features and specifications of actual 802.11N certification.

 

[spidey07]

Originally posted by: kevnich2
Correct me if I'm wrong on this but part of the deal with the current Draft N hardware was that OEM's could still sell the exact same hardware that was with Draft N and could re-badge it as 802.11N certified with no actual changes at all to the firmware so they wouldn't have to spend more money on manufacturing new products and then at some point down the road they could actually make a new product that had all the upgraded features of the new certification. Basically it makes it more difficult for consumers in that they have to do more research on individual products to see if the features of the product are from the certification or from the DraftN.

I was not happy about this, I think all current products should remain draft N unless they got a new firmware update to include all of the new features and specifications of actual 802.11N certification.

The problem is there was no standard and programmable radios are expensive as crap. A firmware upgrade to fix this? Naw, the radios needed to be programmable and the radios to have this feature were god awful expensive.

This is BIG news, GOOD NEWS. The aftermath is the bad news.

 

[JackMDS]

I played with Drafts that belong to others (I do not like to be ignorant), but I never bought one for myself or any one else.

I am going to wait until the dust settles and real new certified units come out.

I feel for every one that will end up with aggravation, but at least myself, and Spidey should have clear conscience.

We spent a lot of time Not being "popular" when we kept telling people to stay away from the draft.

 

[spidey07]

I agree. I want to see what the real aftermath is. If draft stuff can be upgraded then great. I'd like to see more specifics on what the main differences from a radio hardware/software are.

It's possible that draft stuff could be upgraded via firmware but then some of the features could be forced to be done in software/processor because of the radio being non-programmable. We'll see.

 

[spidey07]

Couple things I got from cisco PMs.

http://www.reuters.com/article...11-Sep-2009+BW20090911

The following link includes interesting commentary on some of the optional features that will be enacted down the road with regards to 2.4GHZ interoperability and future speed increases. I highly recommend SE's take a look when you have a free moment.

http://wifinetnews.com/archive...11n_certification.html

Here?s the information on ClientLink test results again: http://www.cisco.com/en/US/sol...t_Cisco_ClientLink.pdf

This quote from the Reuters's article is particularly hilarious.

"More than 400 individuals from equipment and silicon suppliers, service
providers, systems integrators, consultant organizations and academic
institutions from more than 20 countries participated in a seven-year effort
leading to IEEE 802.11n`s ratification. Publication of the amendment is
scheduled for mid-October.
"

 

[Griffinhart]

I'm still not expecting any headaches. My almost 3 year old DIR-655 (The same router I have consistantly recommended to people) has been a work horse, and is "Wi-Fi-certified"

So, it will continue to work with any 11b and g devices as well as future 11n devices which is about what I expected all along.

 

[seepy83]

We're going to be budgeting/planning for a Cisco Wireless Infrstructure at work for 2010. We've got 2 locations - One will need 6 - 8 Access Points, and the other will need 8 - 10 (at least this is what we're estimating right now). Management is looking at me to make the call on investing in N now, or if we should just use G.

I'm leaning towards N, but haven't gotten pricing yet.

Anyone have a recommendation?

The way I see it, if I roll-out a G infrastructure today, we'll need to replace it with N in probably 2 years (max). If I roll-out N, I don't know what the next standard is that is being worked on, but I assume it will be somewhere around 5 - 8 years before we need an update.