Get Ready For A Wire-Free Enterprise
May 24, 2008
If aggregate performance is a key issue, legacy clients that operate only in 802.11b mode may need to be replaced or upgraded. That's not always possible with older Vo-Fi handsets, portable scanners, and other application-specific devices. In these cases, moving nonlegacy clients to the 5-GHz band, where there's great channel selection and support for multiple 40-MHz channels, may be prudent. That way, the legacy clients won't impact the peak-performance capabilities of the 802.11n-capable gear.
The challenge of consistent network management between wired and wireless networks is also vexing. Even Cisco, which leads in market share in both segments, doesn't have a management interface between both platforms. As HP points out, enterprises aren't eager to layer on a different set of intrusion-detection and -prevention systems, security, and network-access control tools for the wireless environment. For now, you will need different sets of tools for managing wired and wireless networks, so for organizations that do both, back-end support costs will rise, not fall.
Illustration by Nick Rotondo
Rollout: AirWave's WLAN Management Suite Put To The Test,
Copper Costs Lots Of Pretty Pennies
and
Voice Is A Bump On Road To Wireless
Building Better Branch-Office Wireless
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