NETGEAR® Announces Intent to Launch IEEE 802.11n Draft Specification Products, Promotes Industry Need for Multi-Vendor Interoperability Working With Leading Chipset Suppliers and as Member of IEEE and Wi-Fi Alliance
NETGEAR Advances Industry-Wide Innovation by Accelerating Benefits of Increased Stability, Speed, Range, and Security of Wireless Networking for Consumers and Businesses While Promoting Multi-Vendor Interoperability and Backwards Compatibility
SANTA CLARA, Calif., March 7 / -- NETGEAR, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTGR), a worldwide provider of technologically advanced, branded networking products, today announced it intends to launch 802.11n draft specification products. These new products are expected to be launched in the first half of 2006, accelerating the benefits to consumers of advanced wireless networks.
NETGEAR's new products based on 802.11n draft specification will surpass the performance of 802.11g, the current interoperable standard, and will support wirelessly a variety of applications requiring high-quality and advanced data throughput speeds, such as high-definition video streaming and network storage, and will deliver more stable connections at greater range with higher degrees of security including AES (Advanced Encryption Standard).
Highly acclaimed for its innovative product designs, NETGEAR's new line of wireless networking products will again deliver cutting edge style. The new form factor for NETGEAR's 802.11n draft specification products will be specially constructed to optimize for maximum stability, speed, range, and security extending data rates up to 600Mbps using spatial multiplexing MIMO technology. NETGEAR will debut the new design and form factor at CeBIT (hall 13, stand C58).
By actively collaborating with leading wireless networking chipset suppliers and working as a member of both the IEEE and WiFi Alliance, NETGEAR is promoting the industry need for multi-vendor interoperability at the new higher speeds and for maintaining reliable backwards-compatibility with existing wireless products.
"The rapid adoption of bandwidth-intensive applications that support high-quality data, voice and video traffic in the consumers and SOHO environments is driving the demand for a network infrastructure that delivers increased stability, faster data throughput speeds, and greater range," explained Vivek Pathela, Senior Director of Product Marketing -- Consumer Products. "NETGEAR commends the progress of the IEEE Task Group in drafting the 802.11n specifications and in accelerating the ratification of the standardized 802.11n specification for sometime in 2007. NETGEAR's technology suppliers assure that we will have ample supply of chipsets based on a draft 802.11n specification, and we are confident of our ability to commit quantities of products to our channel partners worldwide to meet customer demands."
He went on to add, "With the new innovative design we have engineered to be optimized for the new wireless standards, NETGEAR's customers will benefit from products that deliver the maximum speeds and stability that are promised by the 802.11n specification, while providing backwards compatibility with existing 11b/g networks and interoperability with other manufacturers' products."
Following the unanimous vote by Task Group N of the IEEE 802.11 committee on January 19, 2006, the Joint Proposal for high-throughput wireless networking up to 600Mbps with spatial multiplexing MIMO is being formatted into an IEEE draft document and further developed in preparation for issuance of a letter ballot. As the standardization process advances, issues relating to maintaining reliable backwards compatibility with 802.11a/b/g products without degrading the performance of the existing products in the market as well as ensuring multi-vendor interoperability will need to be addressed. As a member of the Wi-Fi Alliance (WFA), NETGEAR supports the WFA initiative to certify products for 802.11n compliance aligned with the ratification of the standard in 2007. In the meantime, NETGEAR is actively working with technology chipset suppliers to ensure the incorporation of those features in the specification that promise reliable backwards-compatibility and channel- friendly behavior with existing wireless networks.
About NETGEAR, Inc.
NETGEAR designs technologically advanced, branded networking products that address the specific needs of small and medium business and home users. The Company's product offerings enable users to share Internet access, peripherals, files, digital multimedia content and applications among multiple personal computers and other Internet-enabled devices. NETGEAR is headquartered in Santa Clara, Calif. For more information, visit the company's Web site at www.netgear.com or call 408-907-8000.
NOTE: NETGEAR, Inc., NETGEAR(R), and the NETGEAR Logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of NETGEAR, Inc. in the United States and/or other countries. Other brand and product names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders. Information is subject to change without notice.
CONTACT: Doug Hagan of NETGEAR, Inc., +1-408-907-8053, or doug.hagan@netgear.com
