Press Releases

Austin, TX, October 11, 2004 - The Wi-Fi Alliance today announced that it will not certify data rate enhancement features based on the IEEE (Institute for Electrical and Electronics Engineers) 802.11namendment to the 802.11 wireless LAN standard until the standard is ratified.No IEEE 802.11n products currently exist, and none are expected to exist until the standard is completed in approximately two years (November 2006). Due to the potential for customer confusion, the Wi-Fi Alliance strongly discourages use of the term IEEE 802.11n in association with any Wi-Fi CERTIFIED™ product.

To help assure that Wi-Fi technology users continue to have a positive experience, the Wi-Fi Alliance will revoke the Wi-Fi certification of any product with claims of IEEE 802.11n capabilities if that product is proven to adversely impact the interoperability of other Wi-Fi CERTIFIED™ products. This decision is an implementation of the Wi-Fi Alliances feature Extensions Policy (www.wi-fi.org/wi-fi_alliance_extensions_policy) that was announced on July 19th of this year.

Pre-standard products always present an inherent risk for technology adopters, and that is why we will not certify802.11n products until the IEEE standard is finalized, said Wi-Fi Alliance Managing Director, Frank Hanzlik

Gartners Ken Dulaney, a leading analyst covering wireless LANs added, Vendors took advantage of unsuspecting buyers when they touted pre-standard technology for802.11g that later did not meet the standard. Left unchecked, the industry is unfortunately poised to repeat itself with 802.11n. With this announcement,however, the Wi-Fi Alliance demonstrates its commitment to ensuring that the Wi-Fi logo stands for product integrity and true interoperability. We intend to support the organizations stance using the full power of our influence with our clients.

About the Wi-Fi Alliance

The Wi-Fi Alliance (formerly WECA) is the global Wi-Fi organization that created the Wi-Fi brand. A nonprofit trade association, the Alliance was formed in 1999 to certify interoperability of IEEE802.11 products and to promote them as the global, wireless LAN standard across all market segments.

The Wi-Fi Alliance has instituted a test suite that defines how member products are tested to certify that they are interoperable with other Wi-Fi CERTIFIED™ products. These tests are conducted atindependent laboratories.

Membership in the Wi-Fi Alliance is open to all companies that support the IEEE 802.11 family of standards. The Wi-Fi Alliance now comprises over 200 members from the worlds leading companies. These companies offer over 1,500 Wi-Fi CERTIFIED™ products. For more information, please visit www.wi-fi.org.

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Press and analyst contact:

C. Brian Grimm Wave Communications for Wi-Fi Alliance 910.686.0870 briang@wavecoms.com