Vendor Claims Wi-Fi Chip Will Lower Wireless Router Prices

Wi-Fi chipmaker Atheros Communications said Tuesday that it has developed a single-chip chipset that will enable vendors to create less-expensive 802.11g access points and routers

Previously, chipmakers only provided two-chip solutions to access point (AP) and router vendors, but Atheros claimed its single-chip design will lower vendors' bill-of-materials by about 20 percent. Atheros claimed that the integrated chipset offers the same performance as two-chip products.

The chipset supports 802.11i security and Atheros' technologies that it claims increase range and data speeds, the company said in a statement. It also supports the most recent draft of the 802.11e Quality of Service specification, which is used in delivering voice and video via wireless LANs.

Atheros said the chip is currently sampling and will be available to vendors in quantity in the first quarter of 2005.