ABI Research is predicting strong growth in the adoption rate of 802.11n as a primary means of transferring network information to consumer electronic devices. Demand is expected to increase the sales of 802.11n chipsets to 216 million units by 2011.

The proposed IEEE 802.11n standard uses multiple transmitters and receivers to achieve high data transfer rates in the 2.4 GHz and 5.0 GHz spectra. Many manufacturers, including Apple, have announced built-in support for 802.11n. Apple will integrate 802.11n into its computers, AppleTV and Airport Extreme devices.

WiFi in the forms of 802.11 a, b and g, was readily adopted by consumers and small businesses alike in the absence of true industry standards, and does not possess enough bandwidth nor enough range to meet the growing list of users' most desired applications. Video content, in particular, consumes a great deal of bandwidth and analysts believe that as 802.11n chipsets are integrated into laptops and other consumer electronics, the installed base of routers and gateways will grow.