The Wireless Ethernet Compatibility Alliance (WECA) has awarded 14 new Wi-Fi interoperability certifications, the most to date since Wi-Fi certification began, according to the group. This brings the total number of Wi-Fi certified products to 93. WECA is a non-profit organization formed to certify Wi-Fi interoperability.
Wi-Fi is the de facto “seal of interoperability” for IEEE 802.11b-compliant High Rate wireless LAN products. IEEE 802.11b is an industry standard for wireless networking products, and Apple has been a pioneer in its adoption with the development of AirPort cards and base stations. A member of WECA, Apple has received Wi-Fi certification for its AirPort products.
Although Apple adopted 802.11b early and coined the term AirPort, the technology is by no means specific to the Macintosh — Macs and PCs can communicate through the same access points using 802.11b-compliant wireless cards and interfaces.
New products granted certification include:
WECA’s Wi-Fi certification helps consumers and businesses guarantee that 802.11b-compliant (and Wi-Fi certified) products that they purchase will work together. WECA says that products which receive Wi-Fi certification have undergone independent testing at Agilent’s Silicon Valley Networking Lab (SVNL).
Wi-Fi is being increasingly adopted by manufacturers of PC cards, PCI cards, USB networking devices and other products because of its ease of adoption and high bandwidth. It operates at a maximum dat rate of 11 Megabits per second, comparable to conventional 10baseT Ethernet. WECA won an important victory last month when chipmaker Intel announced that it was embracing Wi-Fi for future consumer wireless networking products. Until then, Intel had focused on the slower HomeRF standard.