Atheros has new 802.11a/g chipsets that extend range and reduce power consumption of WLAN devices: The new chips will also let users remotely raise an alert on the device if it's stolen, even if the device is powered off.
Atheros says the new chips improve power consumption by 60 percent over 802.11b products. Some of that benefit happens because the chips use about 95 percent less power in idle mode than Centrino’s 802.11b products.
The chips also employ a new kind of signal processing architecture that Atheros says can double the range of Wi-Fi. The chips will allow a single access point to cover multi-story brick homes. Wireless Internet service providers can extend coverage to a kilometer range.