802.11n Draft 2.0 certification underway
Netgear's RangeMax NEXT router
Netgear announced today that two of its Draft 802.11n wireless products have been certified by the Wi-Fi Alliance as in compliance with draft 2.0 of the 802.11n spec. This certification ensures that the product in question is interoperable with products from other vendors, that it adheres to the latest security protection schemes, and that it's backward-compatible with previous generations of Wi-Fi equipment (such as 802.11g and 802.11b products). Netgear's RangeMax NEXT Wireless-N Router Gigabit Edition (WNR854T) and RangeMax NEXT Wireless-N Router (WNR834B) have both been certified as Draft 2.0-compliant. Users who have the first generation versions of these products can rest easy, too: Netgear says that all the Draft 1.0 RangeMax NEXT products are firmware-upgradeable, and you can find the upgrade at Netgear's site.
Other networking heavyweights are in various stages of testing and certification, as well. Linksys's WRT150N router has been certified, and the company has several more products being tested. Likewise, D-Link's Xtreme N router (DIR-655) and companion notebook adapter have both been certified, while Buffalo Tech's products are in the testing pipeline.
Unfortunately, it's clear that mid-2007 finalized spec isn't going to happen (this was the date being thrown around last year), so now we're looking at 2008.
