Linksys 802.11n Wi-Fi Router and PC Card

Wireless Internet connection is a must have for most users these days. There are many Wi-Fi hotspots around town and most homes would have installed wireless routers. But Wi-Fi, as we now know it, does have limitations, notably a relatively short distance and speed ceilings. A new standard, 802.11n, which promises greater range and higher speed, is emerging. However, there is as yet no agreement on specifications for a common standard.

Linksys, a division of Cisco Systems, has come up with two products, a Wi-Fi router and a PC card, based on 802.11n draft specifications. The WRT300N Wireless-N Broadband router and the WPC300N Wireless-N Notebook Adapter promise up to 12 times the throughput of Wireless-G and 4 times the range. Testing of this combo on a PC laptop confirms that surfing speeds are descernibly faster.

How much faster as a function of the broadband connection, the website visited, the laptop’s CPU and a host of other factors. But it is definitely faster. As for the range, much depends on the kind of walls and obstacles in the home. What is also important is that Wireless-N is backward compatible with 802.11b and 802.11g. The router works well with an Apple Powerbook with Airport Extreme Card (802.11g) and download speeds are higher.

The question one might ask is: What happens to this router when Wireless-N specifications are finally drawn-up and what if they are different from Linksys’s earlt products?

This should not be a major worry. So long as the router works with one’s current setup, the benefits of being an early adopter of Wireless-N can still be reaped further down the road.

But there is still one hitch, though. Newer laptops come with Express card slots. So there WPC300N PC card would not fit if the user upgrades his laptop unless someone comes up with an Express Card adapter, which will happen if there’s a demand for it.