Your 802.11n wireless network and devices are about to become passé. Although the official 802.11ac specification won’t be finalized until sometime in 2013, wireless equipment will soon appear on store shelves sporting the faster wireless protocol.

It’s been almost five years since 802.11n wireless routers and devices became available–also well ahead of the specification actually getting ratified. Now, IEEE is finalizing the 802.11ac standard. 802.11ac is also referred to as “gigabit Wi-Fi” and will be capable of significantly faster data transfer speeds than the current 802.11n.