New MIMO Wireless Products and Standards

While the dust settles over the new broadband MIMO standards, the need for speed has several Wi-Fi industry players looking for faster options, even without an official industry standard. Some variant of MIMO will be at the heart of the upcoming IEEE 802.11n standard, but ratification of that standard isn't expected until the second half of 2006.

Meanwhile, MIMO is already working its way into the products of 2005. Airgo, Samsung, Belkin, Netgear, Linksys and D-Link are now all riding the MIMO bandwagon.

New MIMO Products and Vendors

Leading the push for pre-standard MIMO is Airgo, a startup that launched its first MIMO chip set in 2003. Current Airgo chip sets may not be upgraded to 802.11n, but they enhance the performance of existing IEEE standard equipment and with existing 802.11b/g/a systems. Installing MIMO doesn't render obsolete existing systems.

Samsung will use Airgo chip sets in upcoming versions of its X20 and X25 notebooks, which currently use the competing Centrino chip set from Intel Corp. Both notebooks incorporate multiple antennas, which significantly enhances their speed and coverage when compared with notebooks equipped with the latest Intel Centrino wireless adapter.

NETGEAR has announced two new wireless products based on Airgo´s chip. The MIMO G Wireless Router and Wireless PC Card promise up to eight times the speed and coverage of standard 802.11g devices. The router has three antennas and comes with NETGEAR’s Smart Wizard for easy set-up with automatic detection and connection to an Internet service provider.

Belkin's new Pre-N PC Card looks like other adapters but the new adapter gives you the benefits of 802.11n today.  Among those benefits are its increased range and throughput. Belkin's Pre-N PC Card is unlike other high-performance adapters currently available because it doesn't have a separate turbo mode that works only with other devices equipped with matching chipsets.

D-Link rolled out a new line labeled Super G that features multiple antennas. By focusing the signal more intensely on the receiver, the DI-624M router delivers greater range at enhanced speeds. The DI-624M Super G with MIMO Wireless Router enables broadband Wi-Fi Internet sharing and creates a robust wireless network that is able to achieve maximum wireless signal rates of up to 108 Mbps. When used with other D-Link Super G with MIMO wireless products, the range can reach up to eight times farther coverage than standard 802.11g to provide thorough wireless coverage throughout the home or office