Netgear obtains certification for Wireless-N routers

July 3, 2007 - Netgear, a US manufacturer of networking products for homes and small businesses, has obtained Wi-Fi Certified status for its Wireless-N routers from industry association the Wi-Fi Alliance.

The new certification was approved for Netgear’s RangeMax NEXT Wireless-N Router and RangeMax NEXT Wireless-N Router - Gigabit Edition, both of 802.11n draft 2.0 specification.  The certification means that the products will work with similarly-certified products from other manufacturers, and comply with industry standards of security protection and backward compatibility with previous generations of Wi-Fi equipment.  Vivek Pathela, Vice President of Product Marketing for Netgear, commented: “We designed our RangeMax NEXT Wireless-N products to enable our customers to enjoy increased range and performance for a multitude of next-generation applications such as high-definition video streaming, online gaming, IP telephony and fast file transfers of music, photos, etc.”

All of Netgear’s RangeMax NEXT 802.11n draft 1.0 products are firmware upgradeable to the IEEE draft 2.0 specification, and the company offers a software upgrade via the company’s website.  Certification from the Wi-Fi Alliance, comprised of over 300 member companies, is intended to indicate an improved user experience, higher customer satisfaction rates and lower levels of support calls and product returns.  A report published in May 2007 by market information supplier the Dell’Oro Group estimated that sales of Draft-N wireless routers and client devices have surpassed $150mn since launch in 2006.  “Widespread adoption of 802.11n technology is primed to continue, especially after the Wi-Fi alliance stamps their seal of approval on the products,” said Elmer Choy, senior analyst of wireless LAN research for Dell’Oro Group.