While a number of beta releases of Android 2.2 (AKA Froyo) have made the rounds since the Google I/O public unveiling over a month ago, all of the prior releases targeted the T-Mobile variants, leaving my EPE54b-based "AT&T" model on the outside longingly looking in.

Sure, there are methods of rooting and rolling back and then forward to get it working, but I wasn't interested in them simply because this phone is too useful for me to bother: It is already a very decent phone, and I was willing to bide my time until Google refined the final bits and pushed it officially, at least when the alternative started with rooting.

Alas, a version has finally been unviled for my version of Android. I downloaded it, did the manual update, and initial impressions are incredibly positive.

I've complained numerous times before about the stuttering, seemingly overwhelmed feel of the platform, at least relative to the buttery smoothness of an iPhone, and I can happily say that most of those complaints are no longer true.

One possible facet of the Froyo update that has been debated back and forth as myth has been support for 802.11n. I can gladly say that FRF85b does indeed enable 802.11n on my handset.

Taken after switching the WAP to 802.11n only, though it establishes the same connection in mixed g/n. Yes, I named my WAP "dlink", even though it isn't a dlink.

While much has been made about 802.11n's higher theoretical speed, how often is greater than 54Mbps really needed on a smartphone? Is the max 54Mbps of 802.11g just too constrained?

Hardly. The increased max theoretical throughput is a non-issue for this usage.

Instead the real benefit of 802.11n is that it maintains a decent throughput at the edges of the connection, where 802.11g would stutter and disconnect. I can already say that testing this throughout the house and the yard has demonstrated a more consistent, more usable experience. With the WAP in the basement, connectivity in the bedroom was often more hit and miss, whereas now it appears to be rock solid and ever so speedy.