How Fast Can it Go?

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There will most likely be a new Wi-Fi standard to feed these many trends sprouting around the Wi-Fi phenomenon. Engineers are playing with Wi-Fi technologies in an effort to boost its speed. Some have even succeeded, testing products that can run at 72 and even 108 Mbps, although the maximum "official" Wi-Fi speed is 54 Mbps. But that sanctioned limit may soon be a thing of the past. Stuart Kerry, chairman of the IEEE 802.11 Working Group, has indicated that a collection of members has formed a "High Throughput Study Group" to work on a potential high-performance standard that would boost both 802.11g and 802.11a standards.

Although there is as yet no official Task Group, as discussed in Chapter 6, this standard for increased throughput might be called 802.11n. Proposals say the new technology could achieve a bit-rate of at least 108 Mbps, and perhaps as high as 320 Mbps. Look for this new standard to be completed sometime in 2005 or 2006.

In addition, in early 2003, the IEEE tentatively announced the creation of a new wireless ultrabroadband standard, which it has dubbed 802.16a, or more memorably, "Wi-Max." It covers a square mile comfortably, meaning it would take just 49 transmitters to blanket San Francisco. As Larry Brilliant of Cometa fame says, "Now it gets interesting." If you can cover an entire city with wireless Internet access, you suddenly have a very cheap alternative to cellular networks.

Tomorrow there will be new products, many with multiple capabilities. Of course, interoperability is the key. As the technology improves and the engineering community continues to find new ways to exploit this exciting technology, interoperability will provide investment protection for Wi-Fi's users.

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