The IEEE will shortly ratify 802.11n – a standard in development for six years and shipping in enterprise products for more than two. Much of the attention has been on the higher data rate, an increase from the 54 Mbps of legacy 802.11a/g to 300 Mbps, but the standard’s true implications are much broader – it signifies the advent of the all-wireless enterprise.
The changes in 802.11n are more radical than in previous upgrades, affecting every layer of the wireless stack. By increasing raw bandwidth through multiple antennas, wider channels, and lower protocol overhead, 802.11n can deliver a tenfold speed increase capable of handling all enterprise applications and devices. Early adopters have seen application-layer throughput of around 200 Mbps – twice as fast as Fast Ethernet.
But displacing Ethernet is about more than just speed and requires more than simply installing faster access points. Wireless networks also need the reliability, predictability, security and simplicity of wires.
More: http://www.networkworld.com/columnists/2009/091009-wifi-consider.html
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The changes in 802.11n are more radical than in previous upgrades, affecting every layer of the wireless stack. By increasing raw bandwidth through multiple antennas, wider channels, and lower protocol overhead, 802.11n can deliver a tenfold speed increase capable of handling all enterprise applications and devices. Early adopters have seen application-layer throughput of around 200 Mbps – twice as fast as Fast Ethernet.
But displacing Ethernet is about more than just speed and requires more than simply installing faster access points. Wireless networks also need the reliability, predictability, security and simplicity of wires.
More: http://www.networkworld.com/columnists/2009/091009-wifi-consider.html
