Today, the IEEE finally approved the 802.11n standard for wireless network communications.  The approval, which only took the IEEE special committee seven years to complete after work on it began, finalizes the standard and elevates it and the products produced in accordance with it out of “draft” status.

Wireless-N networks have several key advantages over those operating under the legacy 802.11g standard.  Operating in the 2.4GHz or 5GHz radio spectrum, 802.11n can achieve maximum theoretical throughputs of 150Mbps or 300Mbps respectively (although real world throughputs will absolutely be lower).  Also due to the 5GHz transmission component, greater range and reliability can be expected operating outside of the crowded 2.4GHz spectrum.

As mentioned, products have been selling under a draft 802.11n certification for several years, and will retain compatibility and compliance with the final standard.  But with final approval upon us, even more products should be expected that truly push the performance limits of the technology.  And it’s important that they do.  With the emergence of powerline networking as a serious competitor to wireless technology in both capability and potential ubiquity, more and more wireless-N devices (not just routers) will be needed to solve specific consumer data transmission problems, such as funneling video wirelessly between the increasing array of consumer content sources and portals.