Six companies pass Wi-Fi 802.11g interoperability tests

Six companies pass Wi-Fi 802.11g interoperability tests
MANHASSET, N.Y. — The Wi-Fi Alliance has approved eight products from six companies in the first round of its Wi-Fi interoperability certification testing for IEEE 802.11g-compliant devices.

Approved were Broadcom, which was the first to introduce an 802.11g-compatible product late last year, along with Texas Instruments, Atheros, Proxim, Melco and Intersil.

The tests are the fourth since Wi-Fi product certification began in March 2000. Previous certification programs covered products based on IEEE 802.11a and 802.11b (including dual band products) and Wi-Fi Protected Access. The latter comprises key elements of work currently taking place under the 802.11i working group. To date, over 795 products from 110 companies have received Wi-Fi certification.

"Many companies and market segments have been waiting until products based on the final IEEE 802.11g standard amendment were certified for interoperability by the Wi-Fi Alliance. That day has come," said Frank Hanzlik, managing director of the Wi-Fi Alliance. "Until now, interoperability and performance have been uncertain for pre-standard IEEE 802.11g products. As of today, customers can get the interoperability and performance benefits associated with Wi-Fi Alliance product certification."

Initial testing included eight products, including four access points and four PC cards.

The products are:

Atheros's AR5001X+ Universal 802.11a/b/g wireless network adapter;

Broadcom's BCM94306-GAP 54g access point reference design;

Intersil's Prism Duette PCMCIA Adapter Model ISL39000C and Prism Duette access point developer's kit model ISL39300A;

Melco's AirStation 54 Mbit/s wireless notebook adapter-g Model WLI-CB-G54(A);

Proxim's ORiNOCO AP-600b/g; and

TI's TNET1130 WLAN Cardbus reference design and TNETWA622-g10-DP access point reference design.

Wi-Fi-certified 802.11g products will be identified by an updated capabilities label (see below) on packaging and on the Wi-Fi Alliance Web site.