Two wireless Internet groups have decided to cooperate on standards, paving the way for consumers to use high-speed wireless networks, 10 times faster than today’s best Wi-Fi networks to move large high-definition video files around homes.The Wi-Fi Alliance, which represents existing wireless networking players, is hooking up with the Wireless Gigabit Alliance (WiGig), which is promoting a higher speed wireless networking technology.
The agreement means that two different wireless technologies will be built into the same chips and that consumers won’t have a lot of hassles when adopting wireless gear.
WiGig Alliance companies are promoting 60-gigahertz wireless networking, offering transfer speeds that are 10 times faster than the 802.11n Wi-Fi equipment widely used today.
But 60GHz systems are short-range, with high speeds of about 7 gigabits per second guaranteed for only the first 10 metres or so. Under the combined system, from 10 to 100 metres, standard 802.11n Wi-Fi takes over, reaching about 600Mbps.
The WiGig Alliance is also looking for manufacturers to create triband WiGig products that can operate in the 2.4GHz, 5GHz, and 60GHz bands. Existing Wi-Fi technology uses the 2.4GHz and 5GHz frequencies, so triband WiGig devices will be compatible with current Wi-Fi devices.
