Conclusion

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Although there are often complaints about market confusion resulting from the "alphabet soup" nature of the 802.11 series, it's important to bear in mind that the formation of the various Task Groups represents an ongoing effort to modernize and improve the standard. The IEEE's goal is to identify the best technical solutions available, not to develop clear and simple marketing tag lines to promote the resulting products.

Wireless LANs have been with us for a few years now, but enabling wireless equipment from one vendor to communicate with equipment from another ranks as a relatively new development. Yet, this stumbling block must be overcome if wireless LANs are to become predominant. Service must allow a seamless experience to the end-user, whether they are communicating via their home network or not. With wireless LANs finding wider acceptance in the business community, the need for greater compatibility grows.

So, while the road to Wi-Fi nirvana may be a long and winding one, it is clear that with the courageous work of the IEEE and its 802.11 Working Group (and its growing number of Task Groups), the 802.11 series of standards are on the fast track toward dominating wireless LAN deployment worldwide.

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