The Wi-Fi Alliance will start certifying products next year without waiting for the completion of technical standards.
Frank Hanzlik, managing director of the Wi-Fi Alliance, said that without a certification program, the market could have been fragmented by the growing number and variety of pre-standard 'Draft N' or 'Pre-N' products claiming faster speeds and greater range.
The products take their names from the upcoming 802.11n standard.
As early as a month ago, the alliance, which ensures Wi-Fi products from different companies work together, indicated it wouldn't certify the interoperability of the pre-N products.
But delays within the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, the professional association that shepherds the standards process, prompted the Wi-Fi Alliance to rethink, Hanzlik said.
Currently, the IEEE is working on integrating thousands of comments and edits to a draft standard.