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OMFG, just when you thought you understood Apples wireless networking terminology (Airport), the announcement of Apples new Intel-based MacBook Pro and Core Duo iMac have thrown us a new curve. Were benefiting from the fact that Apple is using industry-standard chipsets for things such as Wi-Fi, and thus getting support for things that werent invented at Apple.

There are many profanities that O.F.D.M. might stand for, but in fact in this case it stands for orthogonal frequency division multiplexing. The new Intel-based Macs released by Apple include an Intel wireless chipset that supports what we know as Airport (802.11b), Airport Extreme (802.11g), and a relatively new protocol designated 802.11a. 802.11a defines one of several different 802.11 Physical Layers (PHYs). The actual name of 802.11a is the "High Speed Physical Layer in the 5GHz band," commonly referred to as the "OFDM PHY." OFDM is becoming very popular for high speed transmission. Products supporting 802.11a became available in 2001. Apple just didnt support the protocol. Now the new Macs do support it.

Why would Apple pass on 802.11a? Apple has said it doesnt plan to support 802.11a in its base stations, because the protocol is not backwards compatible with 802.11b or 802.11g. So even though your new MacBook Pro can speak 802.11a, dont expect Apple to talk about it.

Why might you want 802.11a, even if Apple doesnt? The superior performance of 802.11a offers excellent support for bandwidth hungry applications, but the higher operating frequency equates to relatively shorter range. Demonstrations of 802.11a radios delivering 54 Mbps can only support distances of about 60 feet, which is far less than the 300 feet or so that you'll have with 802.11b systems. As compared to 802.11b, you'll need a much larger number of 802.11a access points to cover your facility. Thus 802.11a appears to be able to really pump data out and be highly resilient to interference, but you need a lot more base stations to cover your wireless real estate.

So, you have bought a Core Duo iMac and want wireless. What to do? Should you buy an Apple Airport Extreme, or go find some non-Apple product? Before you go out and trash all your Apple base stations, ask yourself some questions. First of all, do you have any non-Intel Macs that need to get on your wireless network? If so, then stick with the Airport Extreme Base Station, because it is backwards compatible with everything Apple has shipped to date. And if you run out and buy a Linksys or DLink wireless base station so that you can use 802.11a in your house, just be forewarned that your non-Intel Macs will not be able to speak 802.11a, and will not get on the wireless network.

On the other hand, if youre new to Mac, own just a Core Duo iMac with this new chipset, and live in a studio apartment less than sixty feet across, you could easily go purchase a Linksys or DLink wireless router that speaks 802.11a, and benefit from that protocols snappy performance.

There you have it. I do not have a crystal ball. For now, Apple says it has no plans to revamp the Airport Extreme Base Station to support 802.11a. But remember, Apple also said that it had no plans to put video on the iPod, and look what we have today. So if youre on the fence with your wireless network plans, you just need to be up to speed on this information, so that you can make your choices wisely. Also be advised that as Apples digital hub strategy for the living room develops (and I certainly hope said strategy does show itself soon), they will need to pump both music and video around from Macs and iPods to high-definition display screens. If each of those consumer electronics devices had 802.11a integrated into the device, you would not have to worry about the short range, and youd get very high-bandwidth throughput. OMFG.