What's New In the WiFi for iPhone 5
Yay, a new iPhone! So sayeth me, my relatives (one of whom will receive my old iPhone), California (who will receive 8.75% in sales tax on the FULL UNLOCKED PRICE of the phone because California has a ludicrous sales tax law that taxes the pre-discount price of mobile phones) and anyone else who has been waiting for the iPhone to finally support 5 GHz WiFi. But wait, there's more. The iPad has long supported 5 GHz 802.11n WiFi, but the iPhone 5 does the iPad one better. How? Read on, amigos. Though Apple's most popular iOS device, the iPhone, has eschewed 5 GHz WiFi until iPhone 5, iOS-based access to 5 GHz channels (numbered 36 through 165) has been available in every iPad model. The iPad has always been 802.11n, which is good. But the WiFi adapter in the iPad has always supported the bare minimum 802.11n , which is bad. (Specifically, 65 Mbps Data Rate bad.) This meant that an iPad is going to take about three times as much cha...