802.11

Apple has updated its AirPort Express portable wireless base station to make it compatible with the speedy 802.11n wireless standard, the company announced Monday.

802.11n, the latest iteration of the wireless networking standard, more than quadruples wireless-data rates to 248 megabits per second from the current 54 megabits per second offered by the 802.11g wireless standard; there are also some security improvements over 802.11g.

Apple's current lineup of laptops, iMac desktops, Apple TV set-top boxes, and Time Capsule backup devices already come with 802.11n.

An AirPort Express allows up to 10 Wi-Fi users to … Read more

Following the footsteps of last year's Best of CES winner in the TV category, Samsung's FP-T94W series, LG this year is introducing its own wireless plasma TVs. The series is called PG70, and it includes the 50-inch 50PG70 and the 60-inch 60PG70. Yes, you'll still need to connect the power cord, but all those pesky audio-video connections can be moved to a separate AV transceiver box that networks with the panel over the 802.11n wireless standard. Judging from LG's claims regarding its similar wireless LCDs, the box can be set up to 50 feet from … Read more

Among LG's numerous HDTV introductions at CES 2008, which include eight series of LCD HDTVs, one of which features an LED backlight, the company also introduced a series of wireless models. The LG71 series has two members, the 47-inch 47LG71 and the 52-inch 52LG71. According to the press release, "Its integrated 802.11n Wireless System allows a clean wall installation without down-converting signals. The unit comes with a separate wireless receiver with a 50-foot radius (approx.), allowing other devices to be placed nearby, hidden in a cabinet or entertainment console." These sets are the first wireless LCDs … Read more

This post is brought to you by the letter G--as in 802.11g. No broadband-infused home is complete without a router, which lets Wi-Fi-equipped notebooks, cell phones, Zune players, and the like roam free within the walls. Now's your chance to scoop up a TrendNet 802.11g router for just 5 bucks (after $35' worth of mail-in rebates).

Granted, TrendNet's not exactly a household name, but the router appears to have all the prerequisite features and security goodness: four wired LAN ports, virtual server support, 64/128-bit WEP WPA/WPA2 encryption, and so on. And it scored 4.… Read more

This is an ideal accessory for those unfortunate enough to still be lugging around a laptop that doesn't have a built-in Wi-Fi card. If you're tired of hiding that embarrassing protrusion from the slot of your notebook at Starbucks, now you can get something that will give you wireless access and make you look like a cutting-edge geek at the same time.

Asus has come up with what it calls "the world's smallest 802.11n USB 2.0 card," which comes with its own cradle that plugs into your computer and proudly sits upright in … Read more

We have a lot of geeky labels in our industry, and one of my new favorites is IEEE 802.11n. Just what do these letters and numbers mean? Simply stated, 802.11n is the latest revision of the wireless networking standard. Heck, it's so new that the standard hasn't even been ratified. That hasn't stopped the vendors from getting products to market. Aruba, Cisco Systems, Meru, and Trapeze are already shipping 802.11n-compliant Access Points (APs) and controllers.

Without going into technical detail, 802.11n drastically increases wireless data rates from 54 megabits per second (delivered by … Read more

This is the seventh in a series of posts from the Hot Chips conference at Stanford University. The previous installments looked at technology and software, process technology, multicore designs, IBM's Power6 efforts, Vernor Vinge's keynote address, and Nvidia. Other CNET coverage may be found here. This is sort of an experiment for me; I usually prefer to have time to review my work before I publish it. If you see anything wrong, please leave a comment!

This session has two presentations--one from SiBeam describing wireless HDTV transmission for home use, the other from Broadcom on new 802.11n Wi-Fi technology.

The SiBeam presentation is easily summarized: It describes a chipset that sends uncompressed HDTV video over… Read more

Apple announced today a new feature on its 802.11n-based Airport Extreme Base Station. Its Ethernet ports have all been upgraded to Gigabit Ethernet. Sadly, it still offers only three LAN ports, whereas most wireless routers offer four. Otherwise, it's basically the same product we reviewed, at the same price point.

CNET selected Samsung's wireless plasma as the best HDTV product of CES 2007 because a) it represented the first of its kind that we'd seen anywhere, and b) "wireless [anything new]" is always cool.

Now the company has confirmed it's shipping a pair of the wire-free panels, in 50- and 58-inch screen sizes, this November. The FP-T94 series improves upon the 1080p resolution FP-T84 series by moving the forest of connections--three HDMI jacks, two component-video inputs, and so on--from the back of the TV to the back of a separate wireless base station. As a result, the only wire dangling from the panel itself is the power cord. This arrangement could potentially save hundreds of dollars in installation fees for people who want to wall-mount their HDTVs, because not having to run interconnects through the wall makes such installations much simpler.

Based on what Samsung told us at CES, the panel and the base station communicate using the 802.11n wireless standard at speeds up to 150Mbps--plenty for 1080p video, for example. The company is currently claiming a range of 200 feet, down from the 300-foot range they touted at CES, but still respectable. Aside from wireless connectivity, the FP-T94W series has the same specs as the wired FP-T84 series, which allows an easy estimation of the "price of wireless." The wireless models cost $600 more than their cable-bound counterparts.… Read more