The standard for the wireless network protocol 802.11n has been delayed as we’ve earlier reported and will most likely not be set until 2008. despite that there are already numerous 802.11n products on the market and the question is how they perform and if there are so great compatibility problems some warn about. At ExtremeTech they’ve taken five different 802.11n routers and compared their performance and compatibility. There’s no doubt that you can reach some really nice wireless transfer speeds with 802.11n, but at the same time we certainly need the preliminary certifications WiFi Alliance will start with next year.
Problems occur more often than not when using products from different manufacturers, even when using products from different series from the same manufacturer. Using older wireless units in an 802.11n network seems to be quite problematic as well as the loss in performance can be more than significant. For those who really need a high-capacity wireless network 802.11n could be an interesting alternative, but to the everyday Joe it might bea good idea to wait.
