Wait for 802.11g certification, Gartner warns enterprises

Wait for 802.11g certification, Gartner warns enterprises
By John Walko, CommsDesign.com
March 10, 2003 (5:06 p.m. EST)
URL: http://www.eetimes.com/story/OEG20030310S0003

LONDON — Enterprises should not jump on the 802.11g bandwagon until products based on a finalized version of the Wireless LAN specification are more readily available later this year or early 2004, market research group Gartner has warned.

In a research note, Gartner says buyers of 802.11g access points and base stations risk "interoperability and performance problems in a multivendor environment, particularly with certified 802.11b products installed in PCs in a mixed 802.11b and 802.11g operating environment."

The market research group warns that all currently available solutions for the 54Mbit/s WLAN operating at 2.4GHz use proprietary specifications and may not meet the final standard. It suggests potential users should wait until 802.11g products start being certified.

Last month, the Wi-Fi alliance said it would start the certification process once the IEEE has ratified the draft standard. The 802.11 Working Group approved the spe cification last month, and final approval is expected mid-June, with publication in late July.

IEEE said last month, "Now that we have a complete draft of the P802.11g standard, some manufacturers are beginning to release products in accordance with it. While the IEEE is pleased to see early development of product based on our work, it is quite speculative to release products at this time."