Airgo Networks and ASUStek Computer have announced the development of the ASUS A6T laptop, billed as the first notebook computer to have intergrated 802.11n wireless networking capabilities offering up to 240 Mbps of real-world wireless bandwidth. Sure, plenty of manufacturers are trotting out 802.11n even though the 802.11n specification isn’t complete yet, but to use that stuff with your laptop you’d have to slot an awkward add-on PC card. Not so with the A6T: it’s all on-board.
“For our first branded entry in the US laptop marketplace, we wanted to create a product that excels not just at traditional data centric chores but also offers new and exciting benefits such as complete wireless freedom while maintaining faster-than-wired speeds,” noted Tony Chen, Director of ASUS Notebook Business. “By incorporating Gen3 into the A6T, ASUS has created a product that is ideal for home users wanting to access a variety of multimedia applications and content from anywhere in the home, and for business users needing high performance access to applications over a wireless network, either in the home, office or on the road.”
ASUS and Airgo are touting the A6T as “faster than wired,” offering real-world wireless conectivity in excess of performance offered by 100Base-T wired Ethernet. Which may be true in their rarified tests; real-world performance is more questionable, given that Airgo’s poo-pooing “draft-n” products from other manufacturers and interoperability across draft-n vendors is very dicey at this point. However, ASUS does offer a high-speed wireless router which should be fully compatible with the A6T laptop.
At least, when it ships. ASUS and Airgo have released no information on availability or pricing.
