Now that the 802.11n standard has been adopted in final form, many are left wondering: what will happen with all the existing devices that have already implemented previous versions of this wireless access protocol?

The truth is that, in most cases, there is no problem for our gadgets to interact with them, even though each of them implements different versions of the standard. Many factories began to advertise that their products are now compatible with the final version, either through an update or not even touching anything.

The latter is the case with Belkin, who has announced that all models in its range that implemented the preliminary version of 802.11n are compatible with the final version without any updates. Many other manufacturers will also be confirmed shortly.

The only problem we could find is that very old devices work with some very old software, although these should have been updated to at least be compatible with the latest draft. The solution here is to address the manufacturer to give us the necessary updates. Luckily for now we can forget any incompatibilities with a new protocol that’s faster and has greater range.

After initial doubts, the IEEE has approved the 802.11n wireless transmission standard. Thus, after several drafts and products compatible with that first papers, manufacturers already have the confirmation of the new connectivity that enables data transfers that improve between 5 to 6 times the current versions of a, b and g of the 802.11 protocol, reaching maximum theoretical speeds of 300 Mbps

Following this approval, the standard is as good as in recent drafts, so the products already on the market will be fully compatible and may be used without major problems with only an update to its firmware.

The most remarkable that this new standard will bring about the above is the speed, which is achieved by using MIMO (multiple-input, multiple-output), which makes use of several antennas and space division multiplexing to reach speeds actual transmission of 150 Mbps with bursts up to 200 Mbps.