Airgo will be the first company to the hit the market with multiple-in, multiple-out wireless systems for consumers: The MIMO approach has started to achieve traction, with it likely being the basis for 802.11n, a high-throughput IEEE standard in progres.
When you build antennas and wireless access points, you can increase signal strength, decrease noise inside the chips, or improve antennas--or all three, among other technqiues. By integrating the signal from several antennas, MIMO effectively increases the range through better receptivity and interpretation. It's all interrelated.
While Airgo has received plenty of press, so did Vivato and Etherlinx, both of which firms have had rocky roads on their way to production units which didn't seem to live up to early expectations. Airgo, however, has continued to pursue its same initial goals, and products will start appearing through distributor and manufacturing partners in July, according to the News.com article.
In an interview in April with CEO Greg Raleigh, he told Wi-Fi Networking News that consumer products based on Airgo's first generation might cost a bit more--possibly $50 more for an access point--but offer such a greater range even in the Wi-Fi bands that a user might need a single access points instead of two or three, a common problem for even moderately large or old homes.
Raleigh also said that while their current generation of product handles 802.11g and its own 100+ Mbps proprietary flavor, he expects the next generation to offer multiples of that speed. Airgo's 100+ Mbps offering has a net throughput of 45 Mbps, he said.