NETGEAR began shipping a new Dual-Band Wireless Router that supports two separate wireless streams at up to 108 Mbps. The Double-108 Wireless Router (list $129) provides an 802.11b/g stream as well as a simultaneous 802.11a “fast lane” in the 5 GHz band free from congestion and interference. The wireless router uses Atheros’ Super A/G technology, which supports rates of up to 108 Mbps over both the 802.11b/g and 802.11a streams, while maintaining backwards-compatibility with both wireless standards. The Netgear product is also the first to ship with Atheros’ Extended Range technology, promising up to three times the range of basic 802.11g technology. NETGEAR is also shipping a new Double-108 Mbps Wireless PC Card (list $79).
The companies said the dual band approach is especially suited for high quality video streaming because the often-crowded 802.11 b/g band is hindered by interference from microwave ovens, cordless telephones and neighbors’ wireless setup. Since 802.11a provides 13 non-overlapping channels, which will increase to 24 channels in 2005 with new unlicensed channels becoming available, versus just three channels for 802.11b/g, users will be less likely to compete with their neighbors’ wireless networks for bandwidth. http://www.netgear.comhttp://www.atheros.com
