Although the IEEE 802.11n standard has not yet been officially accepted, many manufacturers have jumped on the draft standard, most notably Cisco. The introduction of 802.11n devices to the Wi-Fi marketplace means that admins can expect to see a large boost in the speed of their Wireless Networks. The throughput for the 802.11n draft standard exceeds 100 Mbps, something in the neighborhood of three to four times better than what can be had with 802.11a or 802.11g. Performance-wise, field tests show that the early-adopter devices approach and sometimes exceed the standard.

Cisco released the Aironet 1250 access point less than two months ago, and Apple has also released an 802.11n version of the Airport Extreme. The Apple product is meant for consumer use, but tests conducted by Infoweek showed that the Airport Extreme was capable of delivering data at rates in excess of 112 Mb/s.

There's no question that the 802.11n standard will be deployed in enterprises, but without a complete standard, some organizations are taking their time on deployment. Manufacturers who jump the gun on standards are nothing new, but in this case, it is unlikely that enterprises that choose to deploy the new 802.11n gear will be left holding a stock of half-compatible devices. If a wireless deployment is in your near future, you should consider the performance improvements of 802.11n as a compelling reason to evaluate the technology for your wireless applications.