Wireless Networking Is About to Get a Whole Lot Faster
Wireless technology's next generation of products using the IEEE 802.11ac protocol will be able to transmit data at speeds of more than 1 Gbit/s, according to Broadcom. At present, Wi-Fi Alliance officials expect that the 802.11ac standard will be ratified by the middle of 2012. If all goes as planned, we should start seeing wireless products that run on the standard by the end of next year. Devices running on 802.11ac will be operating in the 5-GHz range, which means that its efficiency will not be impeded by microwaves and wireless phones (as is sometimes the case with devices that operate in the 2.4-GHz range). Rahul Patel, vice president of the LAN connectivity business for Broadcom, said that in interference-free conditions the expected speed of the new standard with a router using a typical 3x3 antenna array and an 80-MHz channel would be 1.2 Gbit/s or slightly higher. Under similar conditions using 160-MHz channels, an 802.11n router can manage about 300 Mbit/s.