Report: Wi-Fi to supersede wired Ethernet
802.11n has taken forever to come to market - and it's still in Draft status, not even fully ratified. Interoperability between chipsets is still a problem, as is the "bad neighbor" effect. Yet the Burton Group today issued a report saying that businesses should plan on moving from gigabit LAN to wi-fi.
In a report comparing gigabit Ethernet with the latest version of Wi-Fi, 802.11n, Burton Group suggests that companies should begin making plans for switching their local-area networks (LANs) from wired to wireless.
The new 802.11n standard "will put pervasive mobility on the fast track," Burton analyst Paul DeBeasi said Tuesday.
"IT professionals should start thinking now about how they will deploy, maintain and benefit from an all-wireless LAN."
The new 802.11n standard "will put pervasive mobility on the fast track," Burton analyst Paul DeBeasi said Tuesday.
"IT professionals should start thinking now about how they will deploy, maintain and benefit from an all-wireless LAN."
Our response to this would be to add a ? to the title of the article. First, we have used draft-n and can say, while fast, it still drops the connection once in a while. If that happens in the middle of a file transfer, you have to start all over. Sometimes the file is still locked and you have to reboot the file server. Bottom line: nothing beats wired for rock-solid reliability.
Also, it's wireless (duh). Security is still an issue, even with encryption. There's no way that the majority of corporations are going to put all their network clients on wireless.
Also, it's wireless (duh). Security is still an issue, even with encryption. There's no way that the majority of corporations are going to put all their network clients on wireless.
