First 802.11g Products Certified

The Wi-Fi Alliance, following successful interoperability testing, has put its stamp of approval on the first batch of products based on the new 802.11g wireless Internet standard.

This is the fourth Wi-Fi product certification developed by the alliance since it began its interoperability testing program in March 2000, the group of wireless equipment vendors says.

Previous certification programs were for products based on the 802.11a and 802.11b standards. The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) has certified dual-band products, and the Wi-Fi Alliance has overseen its own Wi-Fi Protected Access. To date, nearly 800 products from 110 companies have received Wi-Fi certification.

Faster WLANs

The new 802.11g standard lays out the ground rules for WLAN (wireless LAN) gear that is capable of at least 24 megabits per second and up to 54 mbps, while remaining backward compatible with existing 802.11b gear that runs at a maximum 11 mbps. Both use radio spectrum in the 2.4-GHz radio band. Another standard, 802.11a, defines 54-mbps gear in the 5-GHz range.

The alliance's certification of 802.11g was expected to follow shortly after the IEEE Standards Board Review Committee approved the specification in June.

What the certification means to users is significant; products that have passed interoperability tests are compatible with one another.

The growing number of amendments to IEEE's family of 802.11 wireless Internet standards and vendors' use of different chip sets within the same product line have created a need for interoperability testing and certification, the Wi-Fi Alliance says.

Certified Products

Interoperability testing of the 802.11g products includes four access points and four PC Cards, based on chip sets from four different silicon suppliers:

• Atheros AR5001X+ Universal 802.11a/b/g Wireless Network Adapter
  
  
• Broadcom 54g AP Reference Design, BCM94306-GAP
  
  
• Intersil PRISM Duette PCMCIA Adapter Model ISL39000C
  
  
• Intersil PRISM Duette Access Point Developer's Kit Model ISL39300A
  
  
• Melco AirStation 54mbps Wireless Notebook Adapter-g Model# WLI-CB- G54(A)
  
  
• Proxim Orinoco AP-600b/g
  
  
• Texas Instrument TNET1130 WLAN Cardbus Reference Design
  
  
• Texas Instrument's TNETWA622-g10-DP Access Point Reference Design