Getting Ready for High-speed Gaming and Entertainment ala an 802.11n TiVo and Xbox
It can be really annoying when they stop giving a name to computer devices and just call it by a number. They call FireWire an IEEE 1392, a common printer port is called an IEEE 1284 and what they do with WiFi is a story all its own. For some reason they prefer the number IEEE 802.11 to describe WiFi; and to make things more interesting, there are a number of variations on this too. The first and original one came out about 12 years ago and was simple and plain 802.11. A couple of years later, it became faster and more reliable, and the 802.11 name came to be added to. First came 802.11a, which suffered from poor range, and then 802.11b that was quite slow. 802.11g, that was up next is the most popular standard today and is faster and more reliable than anything; but it does attract interference from other devices around and easily slows down. So the latest and greatest being pushed now is the exciting-sounding 802.11n, a standard that approaches the speeds seen in Gigabit LAN connections, that operates free of interference and has great range too. Now you wouldn't normally find mainstream publications on fire about something that was called 802.11n, but it so happens that they are. And it's all thanks to the 802.11n TiVo amd XBox.
Now 802.11n is brand-new and expensive. But that is just the kind of thing that attracts the gaming and the entertainment crowds. What exactly would TiVo want with high-speed WiFi? Well, things have been getting a little tough for this genre-defining recording device. At one time, that name was all over - the Tonight Show, Will and Grace - it was cool to even say TiVo. Now a programmable TV recording device is available for next to nothing with your cable TV operator and TiVo finds itself in a nonexistent market flooded with imitations. That's where the plan for the new 802.11n TiVo comes in. Buy an 802.11n TiVo adapter to plug into your TiVo and you could take excellent advantage of your subscription to TiVo Netflix and Amazon Video on Demand for HD content. This makes it better than the viewing experience with the previous 802.11g adapter: that one could not put through the kind of data HD transmissions need.
Perhaps even more exciting than 802.11n TiVo is the 802.11n Xbox. It's hard to tell when that adapter for the Xbox is going to make its way to the US, but the rest of the world certainly is taking advantage of crazy wireless speeds for gaming. Over in England, the latest 802.11n Xbox is actually selling at stores for about $80.
Buying a WiFi router to go with your latest investment in a souped-up 802.11n TiVo or Xbox used to belittle problematic. They kept calling it a Draft 802.11n, because no one had really agreed on the standards. For this holiday season though everything might be ready in time; standards have finally been agreed upon, and we are go for effortless wireless speeds.
It can be really annoying when they stop giving a name to computer devices and just call it by a number. They call FireWire an IEEE 1392, a common printer port is called an IEEE 1284 and what they do with WiFi is a story all its own. For some reason they prefer the number IEEE 802.11 to describe WiFi; and to make things more interesting, there are a number of variations on this too. The first and original one came out about 12 years ago and was simple and plain 802.11. A couple of years later, it became faster and more reliable, and the 802.11 name came to be added to. First came 802.11a, which suffered from poor range, and then 802.11b that was quite slow. 802.11g, that was up next is the most popular standard today and is faster and more reliable than anything; but it does attract interference from other devices around and easily slows down. So the latest and greatest being pushed now is the exciting-sounding 802.11n, a standard that approaches the speeds seen in Gigabit LAN connections, that operates free of interference and has great range too. Now you wouldn't normally find mainstream publications on fire about something that was called 802.11n, but it so happens that they are. And it's all thanks to the 802.11n TiVo amd XBox.
Now 802.11n is brand-new and expensive. But that is just the kind of thing that attracts the gaming and the entertainment crowds. What exactly would TiVo want with high-speed WiFi? Well, things have been getting a little tough for this genre-defining recording device. At one time, that name was all over - the Tonight Show, Will and Grace - it was cool to even say TiVo. Now a programmable TV recording device is available for next to nothing with your cable TV operator and TiVo finds itself in a nonexistent market flooded with imitations. That's where the plan for the new 802.11n TiVo comes in. Buy an 802.11n TiVo adapter to plug into your TiVo and you could take excellent advantage of your subscription to TiVo Netflix and Amazon Video on Demand for HD content. This makes it better than the viewing experience with the previous 802.11g adapter: that one could not put through the kind of data HD transmissions need.
Perhaps even more exciting than 802.11n TiVo is the 802.11n Xbox. It's hard to tell when that adapter for the Xbox is going to make its way to the US, but the rest of the world certainly is taking advantage of crazy wireless speeds for gaming. Over in England, the latest 802.11n Xbox is actually selling at stores for about $80.
Buying a WiFi router to go with your latest investment in a souped-up 802.11n TiVo or Xbox used to belittle problematic. They kept calling it a Draft 802.11n, because no one had really agreed on the standards. For this holiday season though everything might be ready in time; standards have finally been agreed upon, and we are go for effortless wireless speeds.
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