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High-speed D-Link WiFi launch at EWT - no "turbo" mode

The fastest WiFi boxes from D-Link appeared during the Enterprise Wireless Technology Show this week in London. It's a range based on the Texas Instruments chip set, which quite probably means that there'll be an upgrade coming ... but not yet.

The AirPlus Xtreme G+ is the sort of name that gives you all the superlatives - two plusses, and an extreme - but in fact, as launched, this new product is just a perfectly standard 802.11g fast WiFi range. Which is odd, because Texas Instruments does a "turbo mode" which can (they claim) vastly increase throughput above the standard.

So no apparent surprises: a simple Access Point, plus a plug-in card for laptops, and a wireless broadband "internet gateway" with a built in 4-port Ethernet switch.

But while most observers will probably be surprised to find only a switch - not a proper router to match the market leader, Linksys or the Buffalo 11g products - the hidden technology is TI's ability to modulate its chip set at twice the data rate of other WiFi chips.

No mention of this in the launch details, however: "Our range has been designed to deliver the highest performance and interoperability for any 11g or 11b wireless network," was the quote from sales manager Sahira Perveen.

You can't have both, of course. True interoperability restricts you to the speed of other standard products. If it really is going to be "highest performance" once day, that will be by doing non-standard things. But watch this space ...

There were no details on the D-Link Web site at press time, but no doubt, they'll get posted in due course.