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All posts tagged "802.11n"


Tuesday, April 5, 2011

Cisco Releases New Linksys E-Series - Very Simple Design

Posted by Danny Simmons in "Digital Home Hardware & Accessories" @ 06:00 PM

http://www.engadget.com/2011/04/05/...routers-and-sw/

"If you dig the stylish look on the Linksys E4200 802.11n router but prefer something more wallet-friendly, then Cisco's latest range of home routers and switches will likely suit your taste. Gone are the curved grooves and blinking LEDs on the top, but these routers -- ranging from $59.99 to $159.99 -- still go about their usual wireless business at up to 300Mbps, with additional simultaneous dual-band support on the pricier E2500 and E3200. Like their predecessors, you'll also find a refreshed, feature-packed Cisco Connect software suite in the box, which promises to make installation and management a whole lot easier."

No more blinking lights? Just a nice sleek simple look? I guess I could get used to that. And the price isn't too shabby either. I think they're onto something here. These actually tempt me to replace my perfectly good router at home for no good reason. Now that's marketing! Follow the link for more detailed specs.


Tuesday, April 20, 2010

We all live in a WiFi World

Posted by Hooch Tan in "Digital Home News" @ 01:00 PM

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews...point,2605.html

"By 2006, we had multiple antennas and MIMO technology (spatial multiplexing and the sending of discrete data sub-streams along different paths within a single radio link) along with an upgrade to the fetal 11n spec, and sustained throughput jumped to anywhere from the 40s to the 80s in Mb/s. Performance was all over the board and patch updates seemed to be raining from the sky for a while, but everyone eventually realized that we were never going to get even remotely close to that promised 300 Mb/s 11n spec."

Routers are probably the most critical part of a home network, yet most people I know of think they are all the same. As far as Internet routing capabilities, that is probably close to true. Consumer level routers do have upper limits on how fast they can handle NAT, but most broadband options do not come close to those limits. However, routers also play the critical role in providing WiFi access, and depending on the setup, it can make a world of difference. I am a wired man; I will take an ugly blue cable running along the hallway over WiFi any day, but there is a time and a place for everything, and what router you use for your untethered goodness can make a world of difference, especially if you want to even attempt to stream content wirelessly.


Monday, September 14, 2009

802.11n is FINALLY Official

Posted by Chris Gohlke in "Digital Home Software" @ 03:00 PM

http://siliconrepublic.com/news/art...n-wifi-standard

"After six years, almost a dozen drafts, and two years of products available under Wi-Fi Alliance certification, IEEE approved the 802.11n wireless standard. 802.1n is also more energy efficient and can make for speedier WiFi on handheld devices without burning through as much battery power."

Got a nice chuckle out of this. I can recall teaching a class on wireless back in 2003 and having a slide that said "n" was coming soon. Given how long the pre "n" products were being sold, I expect we will be seeing pre "m" or whatever the next letter is in the series sometime soon.


Thursday, October 16, 2008

600 mbps Promised by 802.11n Chipset Maker

Posted by Jason Dunn in "Digital Home News" @ 07:31 AM

http://www.betanews.com/article/802...hput/1224101805

"Nearly one year ago, a Sunnyvale company called Quantenna announced that it had secured approximately $25 million to begin its development of various "next-gen" wireless technologies. Today, the company is ready to break a big barrier. Quantenna's QHS 802.11n chipsets have a 4x4 MIMO antenna system with Transmit Beamforming, with the stated goal of being used in the streaming of high-definition multimedia content or in HD IPTV setups. The company says its chips use the 5 GHz and 2.4 GHz bands simultaneously, along with adaptive vector mesh routing to reduce communication latency. The three chips announced today are the QHS450 (450 Mbps max link speed, 200 Mbps max throughput), QHS600 (600 Mbps/400 Mbps), and QHS1000 (1 Gbps/600 Mbps)."

I'm all for more speed, but never at the expense of reliability - and right now I don't think 802.11n is reliable, largely because compatibility is theoretical without a finalized standard. 600 mbps sounds great - even if if means real-world speeds of half that - but until that spec is finalized, whether or not you'd actually see if working is anyone's guess.


Monday, July 14, 2008

Why 802.11n Wireless Routers Shouldn't Be Sold in Stores

Posted by Jason Dunn in "Digital Home Talk" @ 02:00 PM

I had a particularly frustrating experience last week that reminded me of my utter contempt for the un-finished wireless protocol that is 802.11n. I do a bit of computer consulting when I have time for it, and someone needs my help, so I was assisting someone with the setup of a laptop. He had purchased an HP dv6700 "Thrive" laptop based on my reccomendation (it's one beautiful machine!) and he also purchased a Linksys WRT160N 802.11n router based on the recommendation of the salesperson at Best Buy. He didn't ask me what kind of wireless router to buy. Can you guess where this is going? He spent over an hour on the phone with Linksys tech support trying to get this router working with his laptop, but he was never able to get a connection that lasted for longer than a few seconds. He returned the Linksys router and tried again with the same model, with the same results. That's when he called me for help. Read more...


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