Today's enterprise Wi-Fi market has some interesting dynamics, with pure-play wireless vendors like Aruba Networks, Meru Networks and Trapeze Networks enjoying healthy growth, even while Cisco Systems dominates with 65 percent market share. You might think those kind of numbers would be music to the ears of Cisco bean counters. But the flip side of the equation is that growth in enterprise wireless is rather anemic, in part because many IT professionals are waiting for the right time to deploy. A large proportion of growth we've seen over the past two years has been concentrated in the higher education market, where WLANs are deployed not because they deliver more productivity, but more because they are a convenience amenity that institutions need to attract students.
The market becomes even more enigmatic with the emergence of 802.11n, a breakthrough technology if there ever was one. The 802.11b version of Wi-Fi succeeded in part by breaking the 10-Mbps Ethernet barrier. Now, 802.11n promises to deliver bits faster than 100Base-T, though the shared-access reality of Wi-Fi makes these comparisons suspect. But it's never been raw performance that has constrained Wi-Fi in the enterprise, and even today, few organizations that have well-designed Wi-Fi networks are experiencing performance bottlenecks.
The bottom-line advice for IT pros contemplating a short-term upgrade to 802.11n is to get back in touch with your risk-averse self. The final standard is still at least 18 months away, and even though the underlying technology is solid and the Wi-Fi Alliance has decided to certify products based on a draft standard, the business value is marginal at best. And since it will be at least two years before even half the enterprise client devices are 11n-capable, you've got plenty of time to let things settle out a bit.
Dave Molta is a Network Computing senior technology editor. He is also assistant dean for technology at the School of Information Studies and director of the Center for Emerging Network Technologies at Syracuse University. Write to him at [email protected]
Verizon is demoing crowd analytics technology that uses 5G along with AI and mobile edge computing to give stadium operators insights into the flow of fans throughout a venue.
As we move closer to fully realizing the potential of Wi-Fi 7, it becomes evident that the RF, signaling, and throughput tests are not merely procedural checkpoints but the pillars of excellence in wireless communication.
With low earth orbit (LEO) satellites fast becoming the norm and 3GPP unifying telecom standards around the globe, the satellite IoT and machine-to-machine (M2M) sector ought to be looking at a bright horizon. But is this the case?
