Wi-Fi News Briefs

• WECA Morphs Into Wi-Fi Alliance
• Dual-Band on the Desktop
• NextNet Gets i-go Set to Go in Mexico

by ISP-Planet Staff [October 8, 2002]

WECA Morphs Into Wi-Fi Alliance
As we reported back in July, the Wireless Ethernet Compatibility Alliance (WECA), the group behind the testing and certification for interoperability of 802.11-based networking products, has officially changed its name. Going forward, it will be known only as the Wi-Fi Alliance.

The reason behind the change has to do with branding. The term "wireless Ethernet" never made it into regular usage like "wireless LANs (WLANs)" did, but, luckily for the former WECA, the term "Wi-Fi" did.

Wi-Fi, short for "wireless fidelity" (another term seldom used in its lengthy form) has become synonymous with 802.11b networks, and the Wi-Fi Alliance wants it to be used generically to include 802.11a networks as well. As Wi-Fi Alliance chairman Dennis Eaton put it in the group's announcement, "Wi-Fi has become such a globally recognized brand, and it is time that the organization's name becomes consistent with the brand that it promotes."

However, that's not to say they want the term "Wi-Fi Certified" to be generic—that appellation and the accompanying logo is only for products that have gone through testing. In other words, while all 802.11 products are Wi-Fi, not all are "Wi-Fi Certified."

The Wi-Fi Alliance has also completely revamped the look of its website. It now sports a glossary of terms, WLAN setup overviews for different network sizes (with diagrams), and a database of Wi-Fi Certified products that's searchable by company or product type—including items like compact flash adapters, residential gateways and routers, and wireless print servers.

In addition to its name change, the non-profit organization introduced its new Wi-Fi "capabilities label." As part of its testing and certification program, the seal assures equipment buyers that specific WLAN products are interoperable with others.

This new logo (left) will still carry the "Wi-Fi Certified" stamp used today, but will also specify whether a tested product has "Certified Interoperability for" 2.4 GHz Band/11 Mbps products (using 802.11b), 5 GHz Band/54 Mbps products (using 802.11a), or both if it's a dual band product.

The label will be required on all 802.11a and dual-band products that the Wi-Fi Alliance is currently testing for certification, and all previously certified 802.11b products have until January 2004 to switch to the new label on packaging. This should give companies time to sell all products currently in the sales channel.

This move toward consolidating the Wi-Fi brand name on all 802.11-based products is one the Wi-Fi Alliance started toward this past summer. At one point, the plan was to differentiate 802.11a products as "Wi-Fi5," but focus groups indicated to the Alliance that the public expected 802.11a to be backward compatible with 11b—and that's not the case.

The Wi-Fi Alliance currently has over 170 member companies and has certified 450 products based on the 802.11b standard.

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Dual-Band on the Desktop
D-Link Systems, Inc., of Irvine, Calif., recently announced the availability of the D-Link AirPro DWL-AB520, a peripheral component interface (PCI) wireless network adapter for desktop computers that supports both the 802.11a 5 GHz band and the 802.11b 2.5 GHz frequency.

Like the other dual-band products on the market today, including the recently announced PC Cards from SMC Networks and Netgear, the AirPro DWL-AB520 uses the Atheros AR5001X chip set, a three chip set with a baseband/media access control (MAC) processor and one radio frequency (RF) chip for each band.

The card has built in support for 802.1X authentication on a Remote Authentication Dial-In User Service (RADIUS) server and Advanced Encryption Security ( AES) on top of the usual wired equivalent privacy (WEP) protection.

The AirPro DWL-AB520 is expected to sell at retail for $159.99 and the MSRP is $189.99. It carries a 3-year warranty and around-the-clock free technical support.

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NextNet Gets i-go Set to Go in Mexico
MVS Comunicaciones, one of Mexico's leading producers of television and radio programming, and Minneapolis-based NextNet Wireless, Inc. are ramping up to deliver what could be the world's largest non-line-of-sight (NLOS) wireless broadband access deployment—certainly the largest wireless deployment in Mexico City to date.

NextNet's NLOS plug-and-play system is being retailed by MVS under the product name, i-go. The i-go system provides "always on" high-speed Internet connections that are 15 times faster than traditional dial-up services. MVS and NextNet plan to cover 25,000 business and residential subscribers,,across 700 sq. km. in Mexico City, by year-end.

Mexico's President Vicente Fox recently inaugurated MVS' i-go system in a ceremony held at his official residence in Los Pinos, Mexico. "Ambitious projects such as this will speed the adoption of Internet and digital services across Mexico and elevate the social and economic well-being of all Mexico citizens," commented President Fox.

"MVS is extremely pleased to support President Fox's e-Mexico initiatives," stated Joaquin Vargas, MVS Comunicaciones chief executive officer. "The i-go system is the first of its kind in the world. We look forward to providing the citizens of Mexico with new technology that will connect them to greater opportunities for knowledge, growth and prosperity in the future."

MVS holds the MMDS (2.5 - 2.686 GHz) spectrum covering over 67 million potential broadband subscribers nationwide, and plans to expand its i-go system from Mexico City into Guadalajara, Monterrey and 9 other cities during the coming 18 months.

NextNet's Expedience NLOS broadband wireless access system is currently deployed in 10 markets worldwide, including the U.S., Asia and Africa. It provides wireless service providers with the means to deliver consistent high-speed Internet access to residential and business subscribers. The OFDM-based Expedience system utilizes indoor, plug-and-play subscriber units, and bracket-mount customer Access points that extended the range NLOS cell radiuses up to 30 kilometers.

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