Belkin Certified Wireless USB Hub - Worldwide UWB Friendly

Yay! Belkin is rolling out the first USB-IF Certified Wireless USB Hub. There are 3 known varieties of wireless USB out there:

• ExtremeUSB that travels cordlessly through 802.11a/b/g/n;
• proprietary WiMedia-based UWB WUSB as seen on the Belkin Cable-Free USB Hub;
• CWUSB which is based on a completely new protocol that also relies on WiMedia as radio platform, but offers features and changes specifically targeted at the new wireless applications.

The hub just announced belongs to the last one on the list. Its host wire adapter (aka. dongle) is designed not only to communicate with the hub but to other Certified Wireless USB devices as well. They are of course non-existent right now unless you add another of the same hub to the network. So you can now have one dongle hosting 2 or more CWUSB hubs within range of 30 ft..

Another significance to this announcement is that Belkin will be shipping this product worldwide, implying the hub is designed to comply with UWB regulations from most governments. That means it will work over the full 3.1 to 10.6Ghz spectrum, something only Alereon has achieved in their WiMedia MAC. Our guess is that the same company is supplying the boards to Belkin. WiQuest pointed out for us that the Belkin 4-port WUSB hub is actually based on their FCC-certified reference design with a speed range from 53Mbps to 1Gps, and that the hub will also support bulk, interrupt and isochronous devices, meaning full USB 1.1/2.0 compatibility. Regardless, the $199.99 Wireless USB Hub is still too pricey for most of us.

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