Texas-based networking company Buffalo announced its first 802.11ac wireless router and wireless media bridge are available today for retail purchase. The two networking products are backwards compatible with 802.11n devices, but also feature the latest ac wireless standard.

Earlier this year, Buffalo promised the arrival of this next-generation router in the summer, but last month Netgear announced its similar router would be arriving in May. Today, it looks like Buffalo hustled enough to be able to call "first."

The 802.11ac standard has not yet been ratified by the IEEE, so none of your current phones, tablets, or laptops will be able to automatically benefit from the 1.3 Gpbs wireless promised in this router. But as dongles and devices with compatible WiFi chips become available over the next year, your 802.11n router gets an automatic upgrade to an 802.11ac router, so to speak.

Also note that that 1.3 Gbps is an ideal number—at CES this year, Buffalo's prototype router was getting a (still super-fast) 803 Mbps. Since then, tweaks to the hardware's design have occurred. But there's no way of knowing yet what the router's practical speed will be. The router (called the AirStation WZR-D1800H) and the media bridge (called the WLI-H4-D1300) are each retailing for $179.99 online.

The new wireless standard transmits over a 5Ghz band, and uses beam-forming technology to extend its reach and give a stronger signal. The IEEE is expected to ratify the standard sometime by the beginning of next year.