News
Issue #2003 - 04 (February 2003)
(Updated Feb. 5, 2003)

INFRASTRUCTURE, PRODUCTS & SERVICES

First 802.11a Products Receive Wi-Fi Certification 

Mountain View, CA, January, 2003 - The Wi-Fi Alliance (formerly WECA) announced that the first set of 5 GHz IEEE 802.11a-based products has passed the Wi-Fi interoperability certification testing. One of the products was a dual band product (802.11a and 802.11b). The testing was conducted at the organization’s San Jose, California interoperability laboratory and began on November 29, 2002.

The following products are now Wi-Fi CERTIFIED: 

Dual-band (802.11a and 802.11b) products:

• Atheros AR5001X CardBus Reference Design Board / AR5BCB-00022A

802.11a products:

• Atheros AR5001AP Reference Design Access Point Model AR5BAP-00021A
• Cisco Aironet 1200 Series Access Point Model AIR-AP1220A
• Cisco Aironet 5GHz WLAN Adapter Model AIR-CB20A 
• Intel® PRO/Wireless 5000 LAN CardBus Adapter Model WCB 5000
• Intermec MobileLAN Access Point Model 2106
• Intersil Indigo Station Card Model ISL 37703C
• Proxim ORiNOCO 5GHz Kit with the AP-2000 Access Point

“Wi-Fi CERTIFIED has become a symbol for interoperability between wireless LAN products from different vendors. Accomplishing this has required us to overcome several technical challenges,” said Sarosh Vesuna, Wi-Fi Alliance Technical Committee Chairman. “Any organization can make multiple products work together if they are based on a single silicon solution and a set of drivers. However, it is much more complex to certify for the interoperability of products based on several independently developed silicon solutions – the way customers in the enterprise and home use Wi-Fi-based wireless LANs in the real world. 

Products that receive certification may display the following label (with appropriate checkmarks) on their packaging and promotional material:

About the Wi-Fi Alliance
The Wi-Fi Alliance (formerly WECA) is a nonprofit organization formed in 1999 to certify interoperability of IEEE 802.11 products and to promote them as the global, wireless LAN standard across all market segments.

Source; WiFi alliance press release

MobileInfo Comments and Advisory: WiFi certification of 802.11a products will help in introducing a level of confidence among enterprises seeking to implement this technology. Understandably, it has taken almost a year for WiFi to start certifying products which started trickling into the market in early 2002. What we really need is interoperability across multiple vendors in dual-band Access Points. That will come in future. Meanwhile enterprise WLAN designers should ask vendors to indicate which client device adapters they support. 

Note: This news release may contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and section 21E of Securities Exchange act of 1934 in USA. Similar provisions exist in other countries. There is no assurance that the stipulated plans of vendors will be implemented. MobileInfo does not warrant the authenticity of the information. Readers should take appropriate caution in developing plans utilizing these products, services and technology architectures.  All trademarks used in this summary are the property of their respective owners.