Blazing fast 802.11AC devices are coming soon
Wish you wireless network offered the same kind of speed and performance as a wired network? Soon it’ll be able to, thanks to the arrival of 802.11AC.
Can’t wait to upgrade your home wireless network to super-fast 802.11AC? After seeing what manufacturers have on display at Computex in Taipei, you won’t have to wait much longer.
Devices will be on their way to retail shelves before the end of the summer, according to chipset makers Broadcomm and Marvell. They’ve been busily churning out 802.11AC components for routers, wireless adapters, and laptops, so you’ll soon be able to reap the benefits of near-gigabit wireless speeds.
Netgear is ready to offer up the R6300 (above), a feature-packed router that combines 802.11AC wireless with Gigabit Ethernet, AirPrint support, and DLNA media streaming. With dual-band capabilities, the R6300 offers a maximum transmission speed of 1.3 gigabits per second. It’s also fully backwards compatible, so all your existing 802.11B, G, and N devices will work just fine with it, too.
ASUS G75VW
Want to give your computer a speed boost? Just pop in the A6200 USB adapter and you’re good to go — configuration is a breeze thanks to Wi-Fi Protected Setup support.
If you’re looking for out-of-the-box support, the wait will be a little longer. 802.11AC will gradually start filtering into mainstream laptops, but there’s at least one model that is coming to stores very soon: Asus is updating the G75VW gaming laptop, swapping out the current 802.11N for its successor.
The G75VW was already pretty cutting edge, with support for Thunderbolt peripherals and Bluetooth 4.0. And if you’re going to shell out around $2100 for a gaming laptop it really ought to come with the fastest network adapter available, right?
The 802.11AC specification hasn’t been finalized yet, but that shouldn’t be a cause for concern if you want to make the jump early. Wireless device makers went down this road with 802.11N, and upgrades to the final spec were delivered with relative ease. The upgrade process should be smooth sailing this time around, too.
[Source: The Verge and Engadget]