The WiFi Alliance Reaches for Gigabit Speeds

With the ratification of the 802.11n standard, the WiFi Alliance is now setting its sights on further improving our wireless lifestyle.  The new 802.11ac standard is being discussed in labs as we speak, and the future looks amazing.

Just like the 802.11n standard has improved bandwidth and range, the new 802.11ac promises more of the same.  Some of the ideas being floated for the standard, which is set to be ratified around December of 2012, include bumping the number of transmit and receive streams from two to three, exclusively using the 5GHz frequency band, and widening the frequency channels from 20MHz to up to 160MHz.  There are also techniques being played with that would allow multiple user information streams to be carried on a single channel.

What does all this add up to?  Alone, each of these techniques would serve to improve wireless range and bandwidth, but not nearly to the degree that they would in combination.  Together, they spell the possibility that the next generation of wireless devices could pass the gigabit mark.  Not only that, but the added range and distance before signal loss have the potential to greatly decrease the cost of going wireless, both in large homes and businesses.  It would take fewer 802.11ac-based access point to cover the same square footage than current, 802.11n-based equipment does now.

The new technology does come with some potential challenges, however.  As any good network engineer knows, your network speed is only as good as the slowest link.  In order for network infrastructures to support gigabit wireless, upgrades would have to be made.  These upgrades could be prohibitively expensive to smaller, less cash-infused companies.

On the home-front, 802.11ac could go a long way toward putting reliable, truly high-speed networking in every room of the house.  Especially larger homes that experience dead spots could greatly benefit from the increases bandwidth and range that 802.11ac promises.