Wi-Fi Alliance to Kick Off Pre-N Certification by Monica Alleven

The Wi-Fi Alliance says in the first half of 2007 it will start to certify interoperability of Wi-Fi products that include baseline features from the developing IEEE 802.11n standard.

One of the trigger points for the program was the statement by the IEEE that it will delay the expected ratification of the "n" standard from March 2007 to March 2008, according to Karen Hanley, senior marketing director at the Wi-Fi Alliance. With tens of millions of products expected in the channel, the alliance decided it was time to help end-users who plan to use the pre-n products.

Certification means the products will be deemed interoperable with other pre-n products, with the intention to ensure they are backward compatible with previous iterations. "We want to make sure the consumer is getting the best possible experience from an interoperability standpoint," she says.

The approach involves two phases. The first is certification of the pre-standard products in the first half of 2007. If the IEEE ratifies the standard in 2008 as planned, the pre-standard certification program will flow into the fully ratified program. The Wi-Fi Alliance expects the second phase of the program will support compatibility between Wi-Fi Certified pre-standard products and those certified to the full standard.

The certification marks used for the first phase of the program will clearly indicate that the certified products are pre-standard, so consumers will understand that what they are purchasing is not based on a ratified IEEE standard, according to the alliance. The Wi-Fi Alliance says it will announce details of the program name when it is finalized.