Buffalo: 802.11n saga is far from over

 

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By Barry Collins

Posted on 29 Jul 2009 at 11:05

Router manufacturer Buffalo claims reports that the 802.11n standard is finally set to be finalised are wide of the mark.

The Wi-Fi Alliance last week claimed that the 802.11n standard was set for final approval by the IEEE in September.

But Buffalo's pre-sales engineer, Jorg Andreas, told PC Pro that he expects there to be a third draft of the standard this autumn.

"From our perspective, we are still far away from having a standard available," Andreas said. "It looks like there will be no standardisation [in September]."

"The next upcoming step would be a 450Mbits/sec or 600Mbits/sec draft 3 [specification] instead of having a standard."

Andreas claims the 802.11n standardisation - which has now dragged on for seven years - is descending into farce. "Everything looks like we are a mile away from standardisation," he said. "We cannot see an end to this never-ending standard."

Andreas claims Buffalo and other manufacturers will launch products based on the third draft this autumn, although he admits few customers are likely to upgrade their existing 802.11n equipment. "I can't see any big impact except for the geeks and the freaks in this market," he said.

The 802.11n draft 3 equipment will remain backwards compatible with draft 1 and 2 equipment, Andreas claims.