Delivering the 802.11n Promise With Smart Wi-Fi

The new IEEE 802.11n standard represents a significant advance in Wi-Fi technology, promising a tremendous leap in performance and coverage over its predecessors, 802.11a and g. With physical data rates up to 600Mbps, many believe that 802.11n will replace wired networks within the enterprise and at home. Yet there's a significant disparity between the 802.11n promise and the actual throughput experienced by users of the current generation of 802.11n systems. While all equipment vendors have access to the same 802.11n chipsets, system-level design and packaging choices can greatly influence the actual throughput, stability and usability of individual products.