Why Wi-Fi Certify?

Hoping to establish its place at the top of the wireless broadband heap,
the Wireless
Ethernet Compatibility Alliance (WECA) Wednesday said that 38 companies
have passed 93 products through rigorous Wi-Fi certification testing.

Each of the products uses a type of local-area networking technology
that operates over the 2.4 GHz license-free spectrum.

Come together
The group says this is the largest amount of products to be adapted into
the new wireless Ethernet protocol, bringing the technology closer to
becoming the industry standard. The products are based on a single wireless
LAN standard in the 2.4 GHz Band.

“The Wi-Fi movement and certification process has served to bring together
a previously fragmented industry,” says WECA vice chairman David Cohen.

Among the companies putting their products to the test are Cisco
Systems, Apple
Computer, chipmaking giant Intel,
3Com, Compaq,
IBM and Nokia.

“We have seen a complete set of industry players from chip producers
to integrated manufacturers and consumer product companies put significant
effort behind producing Wi-Fi wireless LAN products,” says Cohen.

Products awarded the Wi-Fi logo have undergone strict, rigorous and
independent testing at Agilent’s Silicon Valley Networking Lab (SVNL).

Testing usually takes two to four days per product to complete. The
testing assures that products bearing the Wi-Fi logo will work with each
other.