14 DAY TRIAL // Cisco Systems have disclosed their plans for accelerating the deployment of wireless networks in 2008. The company said that the 802.11n standard will become an important player in the new network architecture. According to Chris Kozup, senior manager of mobile solutions marketing for Cisco, companies are widely adopting wireless networking.
"The sheer number of devices connecting to the wireless network is growing exponentially," Kozup said. This mostly happens because the markets are flooded with Wi-Fi enabled devices like notebooks, smartphones, the iPhone and even gaming consoles.
The new trend in wireless networking is the 802.11n standard, because the price to performance ratio trumps that of older wireless standards like the 802.11 a/b/g. Moreover, switching to a new technology will boost the channel revenue from selling 802.11n networking equipment. "The channel stands to benefit here quite a fair amount," Kozup said.
The 802.11n networking standard will bring enhanced performance in wireless networking, such as greater throughput, broader range and higher reliability. At the moment, the 'n' standard is available in draft 2.0 only, with draft 3.0 just released. According to Pat Calhoun, CTO for Cisco's access networking and services group, " 802.11n is positioned to change the face of wireless networking next year".
Although upgrading to 802.11n should be a smooth process, Calhoun expects that challenges will occur. Cisco's networking equipments based on draft 2.0 can easily be upgraded via software for draft 3.0 compatibility. When the final 802.11n standard will be approved (probably in 2009), the actual Cisco Gear will also maintain compatibility with software upgrades. Otherwise, a simple replacement of radio modules in 802.11n access points will fix the issue for sure.
The 802.11n standard is becoming widely adopted especially in education, professional services, financial services, retail, manufacturing, service providers and the government. It provides greater bandwidth and improved wireless quality, and that qualifies it for use with Voice over Wireless LAN (VoWLAN) applications. The 802.11n is also backwards compatible, so the old 802.11 a/b/g gear can coexist with the newer 802.11n hardware. Sure, the users won't be able to benefit from enhanced data rates over the WLAN, but they will experience the lower error rates and reliability of 802.11n at no extra costs.