Wireless Vendors Unveil Dual-Band 802.11 Solutions

D-Link, Irvine, Calif., late last week shipped a multimode 802.11a/g wireless router, the DI-864, as part of its multimode wireless networking solution.

Meanwhile, Linksys last week shipped its dual-band 802.11a/g wireless PC card. The company also plans to ship an 802.11a/g PCI adapter early this week,

followed by an 802.11a/g router and access point later this month.

"The [802.11]a/g band is really the ultimate solution, and the demand among our distributors and resellers is very high," said Victor Tsao, president and CEO of Irvine-based Linksys.

Products based on the 802.11g draft standard are faster, carry more data and have a longer range than those based on the popular 802.11b standard.

Solution providers said they're enthusiastic about 802.11g because it promises network speeds of up to 54 Mbps and is backward-compatible with the popular 802.11b standard.

Shawn Dewan, vice president of sales and marketing at Genesis Computer, an Anaheim, Calif., wireless solution provider and Linksys partner, said he expects business to pick up as more dual-band, multimode products are released.

"We've been waiting for something like this for a long time," he said. "The new products are faster, the security is much better and we are seeing some good demand already," she said.

NetGear, Santa Clara, Calif., last week also began shipping a dual-band 802.11a/g wireless PC card. NetGear said it also plans to ship a broadband router for the SOHO/consumer market and release a business-class router and access point by the end of the second quarter.

"We're trying to cover all of our bases here so we don't get left out of any possible consideration of purchase from the customer," said Lianne Caetano, product line manager for wireless business products at NetGear.