Martin Courtney

Many wireless LAN (WLAN) products are failing the Wi-Fi Alliance's certification tests. Most buyers will welcome this news as it suggests the alliance's testing procedures are thorough, and consequently users should be confident that any approved kit will work in the way they want it to straight out of the box.

But are buyers right to feel this way? What does the Wi-Fi sticker on the packaging actually signify and does its absence indicate a sub-standard product that should be avoided at all costs? Not necessarily, according to some observers, who say that the Wi-Fi Alliance's tests are too stringent, and focus too much on advanced features rather than basic interoperability between various vendors' 802.11b, 802.11g and 802.11a products.

Any standard is better than no standard at all, as the saying goes, but some observers predict that this approach could lead to the disappearance of basic, low-cost access points and client adapters. They say that many punters will avoid buying non-certified products, so vendors will have to bump up the price of equipment to cover the cost of adding more advanced features.

And let us be clear on the definition of "advanced features". Broadly, though not exclusively, the term refers to the type of security features designed to minimise the possibility of hackers intercepting the wireless data being transmitted, or using the WLAN as a method of gaining unauthorised access into larger wired networks that hold more sensitive information. Examples of these features include support for Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA), better encryption, enhanced user authentication, and adherence to the forthcoming 802.11i standard.

The problem for buyers is that they currently have no idea why a product may have failed to merit the Wi-Fi logo. In the case of low-cost equipment, they might suspect that the lack of certification is due to those advanced features being missing, but how would they know if the product failed the more basic interoperability and performance tests?

This problem will be exacerbated as more vendors jump on the wireless LAN bandwagon, and chipset suppliers compete to produce the lowest-cost components to help those vendors grab a larger share of the market.

One way forward might be for buyers to keep an eye on the bench test results carried in IT publications such as Network IT Week that list precisely which features are present in each device.

But in recognition of the fact that there are two WLAN markets, one for businesses and one for consumers, perhaps it is time for the Wi-Fi Alliance to develop two levels of certification - one guaranteeing basic interoperability and performance across 802.11b, 802.11g and 802.11a products, and another that addresses advanced features that not every WLAN user will need.

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