20 MA XIMUMPC OCTOBER 2004
The Pre-N Wireless Router allows
802.11b, 802.11g, and 802.11n
networks to live in harmony, without
collapsing to the lowest transmission
speed among them.TechnoFile (^) Quick takes on technology trends
Belkin’s Trilingual Wireless Router
Quick Start
We wanted faster wireless network speeds,
and now we’ve got them. Unfortunately,
the trade-off has been multiple wireless
standards that aren’t compatible with
each other. And, as anyone with an 802.11b
device in an 802.11g home can attest, even
when these standards do cohabitate, data
transfer speeds plummet to the lowest stan-
dard attached to the network. Not cool.
Thankfully, Belkin is attempting to bring
us out of the Dark Ages of wireless network-
ing. The company’s Pre-N Wireless Router
( $180, http://www.belkin.com ) is capable of working
with mixed 802.11b and 802.11g without
dropping speeds to the lowest common
denominator, and has the potential to reach
speeds up to 108Mbps using a technol-
ogy called MIMO (Multiple Input Multiple
Output). MIMO is currently among the
technologies under consideration for use in
the 802.11n spec (hence the “Pre-N” badge)
and is a groovy front-runner thanks to its
increased compatibility, higher speeds, and
up to 200 percent increase in range over
802.11b or 802.11g.
Someday, Cat-5 Ethernet cable will
seem as quaint as rotary dial telephones.
Wethinks that day just got a lot closer.