802.11n Wi-Fi Inching Closer to Reality... with a Twist

It's tiptoeing slowly, but it's coming: 802.11n, the real version, not the "draft" or "pre" version, but the real thing. But when? Looks like March 2008, a lifetime in the breakneck world of consumer electronics and a full two holiday buying seasons away.

The latest news is a little bizarre: The Wi-Fi Alliance will start certifying draft-N and pre-N products (under what name is still a mystery) in early 2007. Why is this news? The Wi-Fi Alliance isn't waiting for the IEEE to finish its work and ratify the full-blown 802.11n. IEEE traditionally is the first and last word in standards certifications.

In a nutshell, the Wi-Fi Alliance, an industry group and not an official standards body, is telling the IEEE it's tired of waiting for it to get its act together: 802.11n was first drafted in January 2004. Over four years for a wireless standard to be ratified? That's completely unheard of. The Alliance tests interoperability (and in fact did so before the IEEE ever did), and its mark is as valid as anything the official standards body might produce.

Frankly, this is good news. I'm not sure about the vaguely seditious overthrow of such a venerable organization as the IEEE, but a time comes when progress just can't be held back by red tape. From the looks of pre- and draft-N products produced in the last 12 months, 802.11n is looking reasonably stable and final, with or without the IEEE's blessing. I doubt this move will do much to prompt the IEEE to actually finish the standard, but it does at least send a vocal signal to the group: We're really just tired of waiting.