Draft-N vs. Pre-N (802.11n)

Question

I’ve noticed that there’s been a lot of discussion about the Draft-N and Pre-N wireless products. So I decided to do some research to help clarify this issue and found that Dell.com does not have much information on 802.11n so I’ve contacted those who write this information for Dell and they are working on it. But in the mean time I wanted to get some information to you about Draft-N and Pre-N. The first thing I’ve noticed is that everyone thinks that these two are supposed to work together. The answer is not necessarily. Since the 802.11n standard has not been ratified there are different vendors making their product on two different 802.11n protocols and it is from these that the standard will eventually be ratified but in the mean time they may or may not work with each other. Look at the differences between Crossfire and SLI here you have two vendors ATI and nVidia working on the same concept but neither work with each other. But the good news is that 802.11n will eventually be ratified to one standard. Wikipedia has an overall discussion of wireless technology and the various elements of wireless technology which is located at IEEE 802.11n Wireless Information. I know that some people don’t like Wikipedia but it is a good place to start and get some basic information. This article Top 6 802.11n Wireless N Broadband Routers for Home written by Bradley Mitchell explains 6 of the different routers and their compatibility or lack thereof. There are several vendors that are calling their 802.11n solution Draft-N. The following article written by Tim Higgins written on June 1, 2006 titled Draft 802.11n Revealed: Part 1 – The Real Story on Throughput vs. Range which discusses the Draft-N the vendors and how their product works. Belkin calls their 802.11n Pre-N. The following article titled New Wi-Fi Nearly Doubles Speed by Yardena Arar explains the Belkin Pre-N product. This link discusses the Ratification Process address how ratification will happen. The standard was scheduled to be ratified in mid to late 2007 but in an article at cNet.com by Marguerite Reardon titled New Wi-Fi standard delayed again reports that the final ratification might not be until early 2008. The following article talks about purchase options called 802.11n: Buy Now or Wait? These are only a few items that I found to help understand the 802.11n standard and I hope it helps my fellow users in their quest to understand the differences and difficulties with 802.11n products. I will encourage those that are interested to do a more detailed search in your favorite search engine for 802.11n, Draft-N, or Pre-N. You will see there is a lot of information on this new technology and the above links are only meant to be a starting place to help with understanding the new wireless standard. There are many people here on the forum with varying opinions about the 802.11n products. The bottom line though is that 802.11n is new, it’s not finalized, but will eventually be ratified and it will be the way to go in the future. I will continue to research this for you.

Oditius · Answer

Thanks for the info, it was helpful. I already have the Linksys 802.11n router, I just need the mini card that will fit into my XPS Gen 2. So I still wait, the only one I see is the 1500, but it is half the size of the card that is in here.

klbf · Answer

@Odius wrote:

Thanks for the info, it was helpful. I already have the Linksys 802.11n router, I just need the mini card that will fit into my XPS Gen 2. So I still wait, the only one I see is the 1500, but it is half the size of the card that is in here.

you mean draft or pre-n since its not been ratified yet

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Oditius · Answer

A0642956 WRT300N Wireless-N Router, Firewall and 4-Port 10 100 Switch   That is my router. But the card I have is a PCMIA card. Rather have the internal one.

Gina Q · Answer

You might have to shop around for a MINIPCI card. As of this time I do not know of any MINIPCI card for 802.11n. Probably the best way at this time is to find a PCMCIA 802.11n card. Perhaps someone on the forum knows or has run across one of these.

Oditius · Answer

Thanks, I have that. (bought it from Dell) :smileyvery-happy: I just wanted to stop having the thing stick out the side of my beautiful laptop.

Chief Okemos · Answer

Got a new E1505 with the Draft-N card. Of course it did not work.
Dell support downloaded the new recently-released driver update
for the draft-n 1500 minicard. He also changed a few settings
in the card's configuration.

With the new driver I can now connect to my Belkin Pre-N F5D8230-4
router at both 11 and 54 Mbps rates (which is all I expected/hoped for).

With the new driver, the Dell 1500 draft-n card is now compatible with the Belkin Pre-N F5D8230-4 router albeit not in N-mode.

george71 · Answer

I have a question ? Is the netgear wpnt834 router draft -n or pre-n ? Im kind of confused on this..Is this router prepared for the 802.11n signal when it comes out ?

Gina Q · Answer

Here is the link to the WPNT834 Netgear router. Look under Key Features.

swpark · Answer

Hello. I wonder whether Dell 1500 Draft N is based on Atheros AR5008 chipset(XSPAN) and I can buy it in Dell. Now I'm using M1710, Can I install that card? Thank you in advance.

BirnbaD1 · Answer

The XPS M1710 uses a Mini-PCI Express WAN Card The Dell 1500 Draft-N or the Intel 4965AGN will work in this Laptop (Intel only supports Vista at the moment)   The Dell 1500 Draft-N is Broadcom Based Chipset.   The only vendor that I have found that has released an Atheros AR5008 Xspan Mini-PCI Express Based Card is Apple - and I have been unable to locate one aftermarket or on ebay.

swpark · Answer

Thanks BirndaD1. Then, If I have that one at aftermarket, Can I install it in M1710? I wonder they have driver for os such as linux, vista, etc. When I googled it, but I couldn't find any information.

BirnbaD1 · Answer

Ok - Here is the deal as of today (3/25/07)   Their are two vendors that have released Atheros AR5008 Xspan Mini PCI-Express Cards.   Apple: Model is XB72 IBM: Model is AR5BXB72   Their are generic Atheros Drivers Available (Oem) for these cards and the will work in a Dell Laptop with an Internal Mini PCI Express Slot with the following limitations.   1) The Wireless LED amy or may not work - based on what driver is used 2) If your laptop has the WIFI catcher switch - it may not turn off and on the Wifi card 3) Dell Quickset will be unable to control the card based on profiles   I know that there are Vista Drivers available. This card requires that you laptop has 3 antenna cable in order to function properly. My M65 is equipped with a black, white and grey antenna leads for my wireless - and two leads for my internal HSDPA Cingular Card.   Remember - this card is NOT supported by Dell - and I would strongly suggest that you do not go down this road unless you are very comfortable with experimenting with different vendors drivers and configurations.   Personally - I would purchase the Intel 4965AGN from Dell or Ebay - install the Dell 4965AGN Driver - and see how that worked out (I purchased one off ebay for $79.00). According to the Intel Web site - it states that Intel will not be officially supporting the 4965AGN under windows XP until sometime in 2nd quarter - however I have seen drivers out there.  Both Intel and Dell support the 4965agn under Vista.   I have always used Atheros Cards and will continue to do so - however I have decided to hold off on the AR5008 Internal card for the following reasons.   1) Cost - The ones I have seen searching ebay are over $100.00 because they have only been released for apple and IBM - the ones I located were in Germany and China   2) Upgradeability - If you are looking for a card that will be firmware upgradeable to the Final 802.11n standard - I would not buy one of these (yet). IBM and Apple will most certainly release the upgrade - but the firmware installer will probably only run on a IBM or Apple.   3) I would wait until more vendors embraced the card (Wistron, Sparcom, Gigabyte, etc.) I have been unable to locate AR5008 based 'generic' cards . I'm sure it will happen - but it is to new.   Personally - I am going to try out the Intel 4965 card first - and wait until I can find a non proprietary AR5008 at a reasonable price.

swpark · Answer

Thank you so much for your recommendation. I really appreciate for your answer. Seungweon.

kzyracer · Answer

Hi,   Great articles.  Thanks!   I have a Inspiron E1705 and had added D-Link DIR-625 Router with DWA-142 so I can connect 802.11n 6mths ago.  When I first connected USB DWA-142 my 1705 ewoulds not recognize it.  Upgraded BIOS A01 and everything okay.  It was a little flakey, but for the most part it worked.  Then last week things went really bad.  My notebook won't recognize the modem at ALL.  Now I just upgraded to new BIOS A08 and it still won't see it.  I am calling tech support but I wanted to get this out on the forum, Just in case anyone else has an answer!   Do you have suggetions? Katie

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