Wireless vendors pile on 802.11n pressure

The latest standard for wireless networking, IEEE 802.11n, is currently in draft form, and while some industry experts believe that it could be ratified before the end of this year, others expect it will be well into 2009 before the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE) manages to complete the process.

When finally ratified, 802.11n is expected to offer up to 600Mbit/s of raw throughput at ranges up to 300m, well in excess of the 54Mbit/s and 100m range of the earlier IEEE 802.11g standard. The use of multiple antennas, so-called multiple-input multiple output (Mimo) support, is also touted to gives firms a more reliable connection compared with earlier 802.11a/b/g technology.

In a research note from 2007, analyst firm The Farpoint Group predicted that demand for enterprise-class 802.11n-based systems will be enormous, particularly as the specification will form the physical layer standard for wireless networks for some time to come and there is nothing on the horizon to replace it. “802.11n represents such an enormous discontinuity in price/performance that many firms that have already installed wireless LAN (WLAN) systems will be motivated to go out to bid once again,” the report stated.

The huge potential demand from enterprises for 802.11n kit explains the large number of wireless vendors already supplying draft-n systems, with six of them releasing new equipment during the past few weeks.

Aerohive and Foundry Networks have both recently released their first 802.11n products, while Meru Networks, Ruckus Wireless and Trapeze Networks have all released systems that they claim can replace Ethernet as the endpoint connection for corporate networks.

Meanwhile, Aruba Networks has unveiled a range of wireless access points it said can be upgraded “over-the-network” to enable 802.11n operation and allow customers to prepare for a future migration to the wireless specification without incurring the cost of an immediate upgrade.

But despite Aruba’s claims, question marks still hang over whether a firmware upgrade is all that would be required to make any pre-802.11n systems fully compatible with the finished standard.

This uncertainty over upgrade paths to the final IEEE standard means most organisation remain cautious about deploying draft-n systems. The University of Birmingham, for example, is in the final phase of a major wireless rollout that uses 802.11g technology. Senior network specialist at the university, Chris Lea, said users had not requested 802.11n connectivity.

“The general consensus is that 18 months down the road, we may do that [deploy 802.11n], but at the moment we’re very happy with performance and we do have to get some return on investment first,” Lea explained.

Another recent big UK roll-out of wireless infrastructure was at Heathrow Terminal 5, but here too the decision was made not to deploy 802.11n. Aruba was contracted for the deployment in 2006, and the 802.11n standard still seemed far from ratification at that point, according to the company. “It’s 802.11b/g technology that’s been deployed here, but 802.11n is being considered for the future,” said Aruba marketing director Roger Hockaday.

Analyst firm Gartner advised that companies should wait for the technology to mature before deploying in production environments. “As with a lot of new mobile technology, there’s usually fragmentation and volatility surrounding it, which means [client] device types can change very rapidly. It would be sensible for enterprises to wait, since it’s better to invest in something that’s been stable for a while, but it’s just a matter of time,” said research vice president Monica Basso.

However, there may be some firms that want to take a risk in order to benefit from the better performance offered by 802.11n. Quocirca principal analyst Rob Bamforth said, “It comes down to deciding why 802.11n is being considered is it being chosen as the best fit for the task and the specific environment, or simply because it is the latest thing?” Bamforth advised firms to make sure that any products being chosen have the most current firmware release, but more importantly, to check the vendor’s firmware upgrade commitments. However, 802.11n is still best regarded as a green field site option rather than as an upgrade to existing installations, he added.

The other piece of the 802.11n jigsaw enterprises need to consider is security, a concern that should not be overlooked. The threats are not expected to differ great from current ones. “While there are not yet any known vulnerabilities or attacks specific to 802.11n, this is not to say that they will not develop in line with the technology itself,” said Ian Schenkel of wireless security vendor AirMagnet. “In the short term however, threats will simply be the same as those that have threatened older wireless technology. It’s a clear cut case of ‘more of the same’, just with a slightly different flavour,” he explained.

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