Full steam ahead for gigabit wireless, report says

The uptake of wireless networks based on 802.11ac is expected to be high when the first products arrive later this year, according to a report from IMS Research.

Over 3 million products with 802.11ac, including access points and notebooks, will be shipped in the first year of availability alone, IMS expects. "That is a very positive start," said Filomena Berardi, senior market analyst at IMS. The first products are expected to arrive in stores by the end of the year. Chip sets and routers were demonstrated at last week's Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. It won't be long before more laptops are shipped with 802.11ac than without, according to Berardi. The technology will then become more widespread, and in 2016 more than 400 million devices will be shipped. It's now full steam ahead for the standard, according to IMS.