Wipro Sets Up Wi-Fi Pre-Certification Center

Indian outsourcer Wipro announced Tuesday that it has been selected by the Wi-Fi Alliance to set up a pre-certification test lab that will help vendors of Wi-Fi devices prepare for final certification by the Wi-Fi Alliance.

The test lab set up in Bangalore by Wipro is the third Wi-Fi pre-certification lab worldwide authorized by the Wi-Fi Alliance, Frank Hanzlik, managing director of the Wi-Fi Alliance, told reporters in Bangalore. The other two labs are in Taiwan and in the United States, he added.

Pre-certification testing allows Wi-Fi Alliance member companies to test Wi-Fi devices and troubleshoot problems before entering the formal process of getting the device Wi-Fi certified.

The Wi-Fi Alliance in Austin, Texas, is a global, nonprofit industry association with more than 250 member companies. Its main activity is testing and certification of products for compliance with Wi-Fi specifications to enable interoperability of Wi-Fi devices. The Alliance currently has 10 independent test labs worldwide that are authorized to offer final Wi-Fi certification for products.

Future specifications being developed by the Wi-Fi Alliance include Wi-Fi Protected Setup, which will ease setup of encryption and security on home networks. That will be released later this year, but finalization of the specification for 802.11n, a faster and longer-range version of 802.11, has been delayed. A number of vendors are already shipping 802.11n devices based on a draft of the standard, raising questions about interoperability.