The new Wireless "n"

[Urbz]

www.thinksecret.com/news/0611macbook80211n.html

November 13, 2006 - Apple's recently introduced MacBook and MacBook Pro laptops feature an additional upgrade the company has yet to tout: 802.11n wireless connectivity.

Like the iMac line that received a Core 2 Duo upgrade in September, the new laptops have seen their wireless cards replaced by a new varient that supports the 802.11n Draft 1.0 networking standard, although Mac OS X drivers are not yet available.

The MacBook family features a card powered by Atheors Communication's AR5008E chipset that sports three antennas, while the iMac family features a wireless card based powered by Broadcom's BCM4321-series chipset that has two antennas.

Two variants of Atheros' AR5008E chipset exist: the 2.4/5 GHz AR5008E-3NX and the the 2.4GHz AR5008E-3NG. It is believed Apple is employing the latter, although this has not been confirmed; ever since Think Secret reported on Apple's new wireless card in the MacPro in August, Apple has taken to removing markings on its wireless cards in any documentation that includes photos of the cards.

The MacBook's wireless upgrade further solidifies reports that Apple will be upgrading its AirPort networking hardware in the near future, most likely at Macworld Expo San Francisco in January. Apple is expected to ship its iTV set-top media hub at or shortly after the Expo, which is widely believed will feature 802.11n support.

802.11n wireless technology is capable of real-world data speeds of approximately 200Mbits/sec, roughly 10 times greater than 802.11g, delivering bandwidth ideally suited for video streaming.

Apple's current Mac line-up features the following wireless cards:

MacBook/MacBook Pro: Atheros-based PCI Express card with 802.11a/b/g/ & 802.11n Draft 1.0 support (3 antennas)
iMac: Broadcom-based PCI Express card with 802.11a/b/g & 802.11n Draft 1.0 support (2 antennas)
Mac Pro: Broadcom-based PCI Express card with 802.11a/b/g support (2 antennas)
Mac mini: Broadcom-based PCI Express with 802.11b/g support (1 antenna)

[Urbz]

filenavigator writes "Intel announced at the Globalcom 2006 Expo that they will be including Draft 802.11n hardware in their Centrino chips. It will be interesting since they said that they will start doing this sometime in the middle of 2007, and the 802.11n standard is not to be finalized until 2008. Additionally Draft 802.11n has been dogged by interoperability problems." From the article: "Although the news caused barely a ripple of reaction in the audience of software and hardware engineers, there are industry analysts who have already warned large buyers of wireless technology to resist the temptation to deploy high-speed IEEE 802.11n devices until the standard is ratified."

[Urbz]

www.apple.com/wireless/80211/

[Urbz]

www.macworld.com/2007/01/features/80211n/index.php

[Urbz]

www.macworld.com/news/2007/01/22/80211n/index.php

[Urbz]

www.pcworld.com/article/id,128643-c,centrino/article.html

Intel updates wireless card with faster, next-gen standard for faster streaming and downloads.

[gdi]

www.macrumors.com/2007/01/30/apple-quietly-releases-802-11n-enabler/

Apple quietly releases wireless n software upgrade.

[Urbz]

Already have it. And the license allows me to use it on all of my applicable computers.

[Urbz]

www.macworld.com/news/2007/03/14/80211n/index.php

[Crater]

I've heard however that once you buy a Wireless N Access point in the future, these cards MAY not function properly with them as was not a standard on N put in place as of their manufacturing, so these may not be compliant in the future, However, I think it will probably still work fine. Also if for somerason it did not function you could still drop back to G/B, and if you specificaly NEED 108Mb/s you should be plugged in anyway, as you will not hit that speed, especialy with dropped and re-sent packets, which is a huge issue in wireless even now.

[Urbz]

www.tuaw.com/2007/04/12/pogue-tests-802-11n-routers-blasts-netgear/

pogue.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/04/12/the-trouble-with-home-networking/

[Urbz]

www.macobserver.com/article/2007/08/31.11.shtml

Some 802.11n, so-called Draft-n, wireless routers were put to the test on a strictly PC network and didn't fare very well, according to the Editorial Director of EDN News.

Maury Wright went through a succession of wireless routers from Linksys and Netgear. "The performance was miserable. With the router in my office, I couldn’t get a reliable signal in my living room on the Wii or my notebook PC. A quick search of reviews on the Internet (yes, I should have done that research first) revealed that all of the Draft-n products perform poorly. So, I returned the Linksys router," Mr. Wright observed.

Faced with all these different systems, an Xbox, a notebook PC, a Nintendo Wii, nothing seemed to work well together.

"I figure I’ll sit out the first round of 802.11n products. A wired-only router may seem like a step backward, but it feels more like a step forward now that it’s up and working," he concluded.

It's not clear whether the troubles were with the Draft-n standard, the implementation, his hardware, or the various devices put into service. However, TMO notes that it would appear that in this stage in the technology of 802.11n, it may be prudent to stay with an integrated system from a single vendor, such as Apple. No Apple equipment was tested in the report by the EDN Editorial Director.

[Urbz]

A great router!

www.trendnet.com/en/products/TEW-632BRP.htm