D-Link switches focus to 802.11n

Networking vendor D-Link has announced plans to switch its development focus to the recently approved draft 802.11n technology, which it expects to become ratified as a wireless standard in 2007.

The company said this week that it has been supporting the Enhanced Wireless Consortium standard which has now been adopted by the IEEE as draft 802.11n.

D-Link is "convinced" that the draft 802.11n standard paves the way for a clearer market and supports the development of interoperable products.

The draft was approved last month and offers significant benefits such as interoperability between vendors.

It also facilitates the standardisation of optional and additional features such as dynamic 40MHz mode using dual channels for increased throughput, and packet bursting to enable higher speeds.

D-Link plans to continue to support its Mimo range while developing a new draft 11n portfolio, featuring wireless broadband routers as well as CardBus, PCI and USB adapters.

Once the final ratification for 802.11n is complete, D-Link expects large scale adoption as many customers have been holding off from upgrading to the proprietary Mimo technology in favour of waiting for the new wireless standard.