Although the 802.11n Wireless standard is still unreleased, Dell has decided to implement it in its computers.

The current widely used Wi-Fi standards are 802.11a, 802.11b and 802.11g. The 802.11b is capable of data rates up to 11 Mbit/s and the 802.11a and 802.11g are both capable of data rates of up to 54Mbit/s and an increased indoor range of up to 50m. It looks like these standards have become obsolete for Dell’s clients as the computer manufacturer just adopted the new 802.11n standard which is not yet approved by IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers).

The new Dell Wireless 1500 Draft 802.11n dual-band wireless card will be available for all Dell XPS mobile systems and select Inspiration notebooks. The card supports data rates up to 270 megabits per second and is backwards compatible with 802.11g, 802.11b and 802.11a wireless standards. Dell promises that the new wireless technology, with it’s increased throughput and range will easily manage challenging tasks that can bog down a wireless network, such as multi-user, graphic-intensive gaming, high-definition video streaming or transferring large data or multimedia files.

Dell also unveiled a new software utility, Dell Network Assistant, to help simplify the set up and management of wireless networks. The application is pre-installed on all new Dell XPS systems, Inspiron notebooks, Dimension desktops and select Dell Precision workstations. This new application was developed by SingleClick Systems and features various setup wizards, a digital home interface and self-diagnosis and self-healing capabilities.

With almost 90 percent of Dell notebooks configured with a wireless card, Dell seems to have done a smart move by adopting the new wireless standard and being the first to offer its clients better Wi-Fi conections than the competitors. The only concern that remains is that other computer and component manufacturers will be as impatient as Dell and adopt the 802.11n standard, in order to maximize compatibility between brands.