Is this indeed the end of cables as we know it? WiFi is great and all and I can’t live without it. In fact, every day I wonder how I lived without it. But WiFi  -- even in its 54 Mbps variant is not fast enough for the myriad applications we would all really like to throw at the standard. I am referring to streaming video throughout your house on multiple devices simultaneously. For such applications we would need speeds in the hundreds of megabits per second. Sure you could do it with 54 if you had to but if your signal isn’t full strength, you couldn’t get the quality you really need.

Enter Metalink and their new Mt8170 Baseband Device which combined with their MtW8150 RFIC will comprise a single chipset targeting the new 802.11n standard allowing for 240 Mbps throughput!

The complete chipset provides throughput of up to 243Mbps over the air, and supports the critical whole-house coverage requirement of at least 60Mbps of effective throughput to any room within 60 feet of the transmitter. The MtW8170 uses 2x2 or 2x3 MIMO technology to deliver the extended throughput and QoS necessary for video applications. In addition to Real-MIMO technology, Metalink's chipset utilizes allows for channel bonding, advanced forward error correction (FEC) and antenna loading to increase WLAN performance, and achieves a 50 percent improvement in MAC efficiency as compared to earlier 802.11 solutions.

The chipset also supports advanced 802.11i security features and the 802.11e QoS standard. You need to be patient if you want one as the MtW8170 will be available in sample quantities in the third calendar quarter of 2005.