SMC Goes 11g

SMC Networks of Irvine, CA, today announced
that by March of this year will be begin shipping products based on the draft
of the 802.11g standard.

The first products in the line of "G" products will be the Barricade
G 2.4GHz 54Mbps Wireless Cable/DSL Broadband Router for $139MSRP, the EZ Connect
G 2.4GHz 54Mbps Wireless PCI Card for $89.99 and the EZ Connect G 2.4GHz 54Mbps
Wireless CardBus Adapter for $79.99.

The router will support the usual litany of features: NAT and SPI firewall,
4-port dual-speed 10/100Mbps Ethernet ports for wired clients, VPN passthru,
WEP encryption with WPA upgrade available when ready.

All products are based on Intersil’s
PRISM GT 802.11g chipset, and according to Betty Chan, product manager at
SMC, the company "anticipates fully upgradeability to G standard, which
will be ratified this year."

Recent estimates by the 802.11g Task Group say full ratification of the specification
should take place in June. The specification
just passed muster with the 802.11 Working Group but now goes on to receive
technical comments.

802.11g products that have already shipped, some based on PRISM GT and other’s
on Broadcom’s AirForce, have been under some scrutiny for not supplying the
throughput hoped for (802.11a, which used the same OFDM modulation scheme, averages
around 22Mbps in real world tests — current testing with 802.11g products here
at 802.11 Planet have only shown through put at about 14Mbps). Chan, however,
claims that internal tests at SMC with their products show 21 to 23Mbps, which
she calls "pretty impressive" compared to test they did with a competitor’s
product.

"The chipset has a lot to do with it," says Chan.

Other companies with SOHO 802.11g products currently available include Buffalo
Technology, Linksys,
D-Link,
and Apple
; products from Netgear, Belkin, and Actiontec are
announced but not shipping yet.