As expected, the Institute of Electrical Electronics Engineers (IEEE) has finally approved the new 802.11g broadband wireless standard.

"This approval will accelerate the process," said W.R. Hambrecht analyst Satya Chillara, who expects that 2003 Wi-Fi sales will top the previous three years altogether.

But consumers have already bought more than 6 million products based on "g" this year and businesses will begin buying it next year, "when technology budgets are freed up", according to Chillara.

The new standard works with gear based on the existing Wi-Fi standard, called 802.11b, and runs at theoretical speeds of up to 54 megabits, or millions of bits per second, compared with "b"'s 11 megabits per second theoretical speed.

But in some cases "g" gear, which has a shorter range than "b", reaches just double the older technology's speed, Gartner Inc. analyst Kenneth Dulaney said.

Dulaney also pointed out that it makes less sense for offices, which have already installed the older technology, to upgrade to "g" unless they overhaul the entire network, since mixed connections would only support the slower speeds.