Will 802.11n support Wake On Lan?

**Danceheaven** · 03-14-2004, 07:27 AM

Does anybody know if the new 802.11n Standard will support Wake On Lan, i have considered waking the system from the com porton the ring connection, but i consider the wake on lan feature much more pratical. Also when will this new standard be released?.

**none** · 03-14-2004, 11:46 AM

What makes you think it will? Have you heard this? No WIFI so far has supported WOL, so I doubt this one will.

**wizardPC** · 03-14-2004, 01:59 PM

see, the thing about 802.11 is that it uses the 2.4Ghz spectrum. That used to be fairly empty, so there wasnt any interference. Now, everything is 2.4Ghz. In order for the card to detect it the signal was an actual 802.11 signal and not someone microwaving a burrito, the card would have to be on. That means the PC would have to be on.

By the very nature of it, wireless CANNOT do WOL

**Danceheaven** · 03-14-2004, 04:43 PM

I not too sure about that one guys, i do know that the 2.4ghz spectrum has become very very over populated over the past few years everythings using it from 802.11 wifi to bluetooth to wireless video senders, dam even my car pager / alarm system uses it. but the information that is sent to the network i/f card be that ethernet in this case, contains a certain set of error control checking and addressing to eliminate such errors i believe it called the mac address that identifies the network controller card, im not sure entirely so i will read up, but i heard a rumor and i say it was a rumor that the new standard when release will support WOL, i wouldnt be too suprised though if it is current hungry and requires a bit of juice to sit there in stand by mode as it were.

**stimps** · 03-16-2004, 05:50 AM

http://www.agere.com/client/docs/PB02061-1.pdf

wireless wake on lan is out there my freinds....only time is in the way now

**none** · 03-16-2004, 12:04 PM

Originally Posted by stimps

http://www.agere.com/client/docs/PB02061-1.pdf

wireless wake on lan is out there my freinds....only time is in the way now

First, that paper is two years old and nothing has come of it.

Second, the WOL support mentioned is for the PCI -> PCMCIA adapter, not for the PCMCIA card, which is the wireless part of the combo. Vague references to future compatible wireless products are made, but no such products are available or planned, AFAIK. Would love to see some more details, however.

Wireless WOL sounds like a security nightmare to me, but I'm sure it can be dealt with.

**Falken** · 03-17-2004, 04:06 AM

Originally Posted by none

First, that paper is two years old and nothing has come of it.

Second, the WOL support mentioned is for the PCI -> PCMCIA adapter, not for the PCMCIA card, which is the wireless part of the combo. Vague references to future compatible wireless products are made, but no such products are available or planned, AFAIK. Would love to see some more details, however.

Wireless WOL sounds like a security nightmare to me, but I'm sure it can be dealt with.

WOL RJ45 network cards are very common and used extensively by large corporates for remote management of desktops. Really is quite spooky to see a few thousand computers suddenly power up! WOL works by being passed a series of packets to the MAC address. If I remember correctly it is ten packets with all bits on. The card firmware then bridges the WOL connecter to the motherboard and hey presto, the pc fires up. Their are more than a few difficulties along the way. First of all you need a wireless card with this capability. I can't see how than can be achieved with a PCMCIA card so you'd need a PCI card. I sell 802.11 cards but they don't have the WOL feature. You then need a method of sending the packets. Altiris do an industrial strength version but you might be able to find a utility to do it.
Best of luck!

Doug

**NOS TANG** · 03-20-2004, 03:04 PM

I have to agree with the previous posts on this, WOL with wireless NIC's is almost impossible do by the nature of 802.11. There is a couple ways this could be done by using a separate wireless adapter. I hope to test a few options with the stuff I have laying around the house, will post the results late next week.

Here is some food for thought...

Since most of the new mini-itx boards have WOL enabled on the built in Ethernet port, it could be use to start the PC. Now you need to connect that port to a separate 802.11 SU "Subscriber Unit". This should work if you get inventive, say using hub or cross over cable to connect the SU to the Ethernet port on the ITX board. May also require a static IP setup on the computer Ethernet port.

My theory is the SU should only pass traffic to the computer destine for the MAC of the attached Ethernet port. This should filter out all the other wireless traffic and junk a directly connected wireless NIC would see. However the down side is that the wireless SU will need to be powered up all the time, 5V is what my linksys units use. In a car this would tend to drain the battery after a couple days, but on a setup that uses AC voltage or a charging system it may have some use.

Has anyone else tested this design or anything like it? ?

-NOS