There were several wireless networking products announced at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas this week, but NETGEAR made quite the splash with their 802.11n RangeMax Wireless-N products that can operate in the relatively uninhabited 5GHz band.
Why is this a big deal? Well, primarily it appears to be related to overcrowding/interference in the 2.4GHz band:
2.4GHz
- The entire 2.4GHz band is 80MHz wide, which only allows three non-overlapping channels.
- The band is crowded by wireless phones, microwaves, bluetooth devices, and other wireless access points that can cause massive interference, especially in an urban environment.
5GHz
- In this band there are 20 non-overlapping channels, each with 20MHz of bandwidth. This means significantly better performance as compared to the 2.4GHz band.
- This band is almost empty, even in large cities. The 5GHz band should also be slower to fill up as the 5GHz unlicensed band is significantly larger. This means as more 5GHz-class devices come online, there will still be less crowding.
The key disadvantage with 5GHz is reduced range (although considering today's security issues, reduced range could be viewed as a bonus). To compensate for this NETGEAR uses an internal array of Smart Antennas based on metamaterial technology; "a revolutionary and patented innovation with unique transmission properties that provides the highest level of quality, reliability and signal optimization".
According to their press release, these new products are readily available, but I've been having difficulty finding them with the major retailers as reported:
- RangeMax Wireless-N Gigabit Router (WNR3500)
- RangeMax Dual Band Wireless-N Router (WNDR3300)
- Wireless-N HD Access Point/Bridge (WNHDE111)
- HD/Gaming 5GHz Wireless-N Networking Kit (WNHDEB111)
- RangeMax Dual Band Wireless-N USB 2.0 Adapter (WNDA3100)
Have you encountered an issue with existing 2.4GHz devices experiencing interference? Will these new 5GHz capable devices be a good solution for your home or business?
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