THE WI-FI Alliance is so concerned about the growing number of router and network card incompatibilities it is going to start certifying products without waiting for the completion of technical standards. Frank Hanzlik, managing director of the Wi-Fi Alliance, said that the market was in danger of being fragmented by a number of different "Draft N" or "Pre-N" products. The products get a lot of attention because they claim faster speeds and greater range, however some of the do not work that well together.
Initially, the alliance indicated it wouldn"t certify the interoperability of the pre-N products until the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers is able to test this. However it looks like the IEEE will not be able to certify the testing of the standard quickly enough.