Don’t buy Draft N hardware
Yep, you heard us right.
If you want to rush out and buy Draft N kit, forget it. Really. We really are telling you not to get the latest and greatest. Because, while it’s the latest, an Achilles heel in the way the Draft N spec has been put together ensures that, at the moment, it isn’t the greatest and is very much Rev A.
Here’s the rub; every networking vendor is seeking to make a quick buck by shipping Draft N kits now. After all, they want consumers to buy wireless kit more regularly than there are new IEEE standards. So vendors release interim models, such as the recent spate of non-standard MIMO kits. And now that Draft N has been agreed, companies want to release firmware upgradeable kits now so they can cash in on you, the early adopter, much as they did with 802.11g.
Several weeks ago Airgo, makers of the True MIMO chipsets, made a fuss about the new 802.11n wireless standard causing interference with legacy 802.11b and g networks. The damage caused to Draft N was major, meaning that yesterday less than half of the IEEE votes – 46.6 per cent - were for approval. Oops indeed. However, this course of events isn’t unexpected given the recent unease around Draft N. But, while not likely, it means things can change beyond the point at which they’d be firmware upgradeable. However, this is really rather unlikely, especially given the kits are already onsale in the US.
What’s the craic?
The major issue centres around a 40MHz channel bonded mode of the draft standard which uses MIMO technology. Think of this as a turbo mode that may not be on all the routers being released. 40GHz has a problem since there are just three channels in the 2.4Ghz band that don’t already have a problem with overlapping.
“We find it rather ironic that Airgo is on one hand promoting its third-generation chipsets, which do cause interference with legacy devices, and on the other hand warning the public regarding the 1.0 draft specification,” said Atheros’ CTO Bill McFarland previous to the latest vote. The third generation of Airgo’s MIMO chipset, as featured in products including the Netgear RangeMax 240 and Linksys SRX 400 range has been criticised for the ‘bad neighbour’ syndrome.
“Any new changes will have to receive 75 per cent approval,” continued McFarland. “Additionally, companies have already been discussing the best techniques for the 802.11n standard for several years now. It’s very unlikely that a new technique would be introduced at this stage…”
2.0 inevitable
However, the recent development almost certainly means a second draft standard will be released. Airgo wasted no time to release a boastful statement: “Draft 1.0 is clearly deficient in protecting the operation of installed networks,” said Airgo CEO Greg Raleigh as he referred to early US comments on the Draft 802.11n kits being less than good neighbours for legacy Wi-Fi. Airgo was right to bring the issue to the fore, but wrong to position itself as being whiter than white.
Atheros and Broadcom also felt moved to comment on the events. Bill Bunch, Director of Product Marketing at Broadcom said the latest development was “typical at this stage”.
McFarland also set out the company line: “The 1.0 draft specification is still the one and only working draft,” he states. “The bar for the final 802.11n standard is set very high and we will go through several more ballots. A 'No' vote at this stage does not indicate that there will be radical changes to the standard.” And unlikely it is. But that little shred of doubt means you’d be more than a little silly to spend your hard earned cash on kit that might be a bad neighbour when 802.11n is finally ratified.
If you want to rush out and buy Draft N kit, forget it. Really. We really are telling you not to get the latest and greatest. Because, while it’s the latest, an Achilles heel in the way the Draft N spec has been put together ensures that, at the moment, it isn’t the greatest and is very much Rev A.
Here’s the rub; every networking vendor is seeking to make a quick buck by shipping Draft N kits now. After all, they want consumers to buy wireless kit more regularly than there are new IEEE standards. So vendors release interim models, such as the recent spate of non-standard MIMO kits. And now that Draft N has been agreed, companies want to release firmware upgradeable kits now so they can cash in on you, the early adopter, much as they did with 802.11g.
Several weeks ago Airgo, makers of the True MIMO chipsets, made a fuss about the new 802.11n wireless standard causing interference with legacy 802.11b and g networks. The damage caused to Draft N was major, meaning that yesterday less than half of the IEEE votes – 46.6 per cent - were for approval. Oops indeed. However, this course of events isn’t unexpected given the recent unease around Draft N. But, while not likely, it means things can change beyond the point at which they’d be firmware upgradeable. However, this is really rather unlikely, especially given the kits are already onsale in the US.
What’s the craic?
The major issue centres around a 40MHz channel bonded mode of the draft standard which uses MIMO technology. Think of this as a turbo mode that may not be on all the routers being released. 40GHz has a problem since there are just three channels in the 2.4Ghz band that don’t already have a problem with overlapping.
“We find it rather ironic that Airgo is on one hand promoting its third-generation chipsets, which do cause interference with legacy devices, and on the other hand warning the public regarding the 1.0 draft specification,” said Atheros’ CTO Bill McFarland previous to the latest vote. The third generation of Airgo’s MIMO chipset, as featured in products including the Netgear RangeMax 240 and Linksys SRX 400 range has been criticised for the ‘bad neighbour’ syndrome.
“Any new changes will have to receive 75 per cent approval,” continued McFarland. “Additionally, companies have already been discussing the best techniques for the 802.11n standard for several years now. It’s very unlikely that a new technique would be introduced at this stage…”
2.0 inevitable
However, the recent development almost certainly means a second draft standard will be released. Airgo wasted no time to release a boastful statement: “Draft 1.0 is clearly deficient in protecting the operation of installed networks,” said Airgo CEO Greg Raleigh as he referred to early US comments on the Draft 802.11n kits being less than good neighbours for legacy Wi-Fi. Airgo was right to bring the issue to the fore, but wrong to position itself as being whiter than white.
Atheros and Broadcom also felt moved to comment on the events. Bill Bunch, Director of Product Marketing at Broadcom said the latest development was “typical at this stage”.
McFarland also set out the company line: “The 1.0 draft specification is still the one and only working draft,” he states. “The bar for the final 802.11n standard is set very high and we will go through several more ballots. A 'No' vote at this stage does not indicate that there will be radical changes to the standard.” And unlikely it is. But that little shred of doubt means you’d be more than a little silly to spend your hard earned cash on kit that might be a bad neighbour when 802.11n is finally ratified.
posted by Unknown @ 5:20 PM
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