• PC World
• »Networking
• »Wireless

Clear Sailing

In addition to speed, one of the attractions of going to 802.11n is that it can operate on both the 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz spectrum. The 2.4 GHz range is crowded with signals from cordless phones and interference from microwave ovens and has fewer non-overlapping channels. The 5 GHz range is pristine by comparison, with up to 23 channels available.

Many networking companies envision a future in which plain old data -- spreadsheets you're transfering from one PC to another or Internet file downloads -- operate on the less reliable 2.4 GHz spectrum, since it doesn't really matter if your spreadsheet takes another couple of seconds to transfer. Traffic, like streaming video, that really suffers from interference would use the 5 GHz spectrum.

Netgear showed a RangeMax Dual Band Wireless-N router that will operate on both spectrum simultaneously, giving you two networks in your house at once. The company expects to ship the router, which uses eight internal antennas, at the end of February for $129. Linksys and D-Link also have dual-band routers available or shipping soon.

Atheros' McFarland cautions against assuming that 802.11g gear will disappear entirely, though. The chip manufacturer continues to find ways to make 11g less expensive to build into equipment and McFarland said the technology is finding a new life in supercheap notebooks like the Asus Eee PC. Many small, cheap laptops like the Eee and the Intel Classmate will be sold in developing nations overseas and McFarland believes that many users there will be happy to stick with 802.11g.

Powerline Networking

And wi-fi isn't the only game in town. Powerline networking based on the HomePlug AV standard is becoming more and more prevalent. HomePlug AV has a theoretical maximum speed of 200 mbps. While you won't really see those speeds in real-world use, it is fast enough to transmit high definition video. All the major networking companies have powerline adapters, small boxes you plug into an outlet and attach by ethernet to your router on one end and to a PC or other device on the other. Zyxel even offers a router with built-in powerline support. The $135 NBG318S also supports wi-fi and ethernet networking.

Later this year, Netgear expects to start selling plastic optical fiber adapters for creating a less obtrusive wired network. Plastic optical fiber cable is about a third the size of a telephone line and can be easily cut to the right length. It's so small that you can easily tuck it behind a baseboard or under carpets or fish it through a hole in a wall. Adapters on either end will accept the cable and plug into a standard ethernet port. Netgear officials say the cable's throughput is actually better than standard ethernet.

Read PC World's ongoing coverage of this giant technology show at our CES InfoCenter.