A major vendor of products based on the HomeRF wireless home networking standard insisted Thursday that Intel is not completely abandoning the standard.
Proxim, Inc. (Nasdaq:PROX) said that Intel will continue to sell and support products based on the HomeRF 1.0 standard even though the company recently announced future wireless home networking products will use the 802.11b standard.
Proxim is a leading proponent of the HomeRF standard, which has been losing ground to 802.11b, according to many analysts.
In a statement, Proxim said that Intel had confirmed that, in addition to creating new products based on 802.11b, it also will continue to sell and support products based on the HomeRF 1.0 standard. Intel also will remain part of the HomeRF Working Group, Proxim said.
However, the HomeRF 1.0 standard is about to be superceded by the HomeRF 2.0 standard, which provides faster speeds. Currently, HomeRF 1.0 can deliver speeds of only 1.6Mbps, compared to 11Mbps for 802.11b. However, HomeRF 2.0 will support speeds as high as 10Mbps.
“We believe HomeRF wireless networking products are the right choice for
residential customers because they provide superior interference immunity and security while enabling toll-quality voice and streaming media services at an affordable price,” said David King, chairman, president and CEO of Proxim.
He claimed that Proxim’s sales of HomeRF products remain strong and that the company will soon announce new OEM deals for HomeRF products. Perhaps hedging its bets, however, Proxim recently claimed that it had patents that covered 802.11 products and that it intended to pursue royalties.
