802.11n Wi-Fi standard finally approved

It's been several years coming, but the 802.11n standard for wireless networking has been officially ratified.

The IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) has been working on the standard, which boosts Wi-Fi throughput speeds to 300Mbps and beyond, for more than six years.

"This was an extraordinarily wide-ranging technical challenge that required the sustained effort and concentration of a terrific variety of participants," said Bruce Kraemer, chair of the IEEE Wireless LAN Working Group.

"When we started in 2002, many of the technologies addressed in 802.11n were university research topics and had not been implemented," Kraemer continued.

Wireless networking standards have always begun with the 802.11 prefix - initially 802.11b was the one adopted on a wide scale by consumers.

Web User guide: Fix Wi-Fi problems

802.11g improved on 802.11b's top speed of 11Mbps, offering a theoretical maximum of 54Mbps throughput, but hardware manufacturers have been offering 'Pre-N' or 'Draft-N' wireless routers for some years now, basing the technology on the unapproved standard.

But now 802.11n has been officially ratified, little will change other than the words 'pre' and 'draft' will disappear from the packaging and marketing materials.

Theoretically, 802.11n is capable of speeds of up to 600Mbps, though in practice this has never been achieved.

It also offers better reliability than previous standards as it offers support for multiple anntennae in routers and other connected devices.