802.11n Opens the Way for More Applications
September 9 2009, By Dave Trowbridge
Wireless connectivity, despite its skyrocketing popularity in both business and consumer networking, was formerly regarded as a sort of "poor cousin" to wired networks: what one uses if one can't plug into an Ethernet connection. Given the bandwidth and security limitations of early 802.11 standards, this was a reasonable attitude, and yet wireless usage grew dramatically anyway, driven by user demands for mobility and convenience.
Today, this attitude can only hinder the potential of wireless connectivity. Ratification of 802.11n, the new wireless standard that delivers substantially improved reliability and near-wireline speed, is one of many signs that wireless connectivity is coming of age and that the choice between wired and wireless connectivity is no longer an 'either-or' but rather an 'and' situation.
By closing the wired and wireless performance gap, 802.11n enables IT to deliver more and more applications using either wireless or wireline. "802.11n is having a dramatic impact on how wireless and wireline work together," says Ray Smets, Vice President and General Manager of Cisco's Wireless Networking Business Unit. "Cisco is accelerating their convergence, and giving businesses more choices and greater agility while also simplifying their operations."
Rich Siedzik, Director of Computer and Telecommunications Services at Bryant University, stresses the importance of a unified wireless-wired approach. "Wired and wireless still really emphasize two different things: a rich user experience and mobility. There are applications we still can't deliver wirelessly, such as videoconference collaboration or other quality-critical video, but with 802.11n we're getting closer, and are looking at things like video on-demand, IPTV and teleconferencing."
IT's job is thus to supply the right application over the right medium, enable seamless transition from one to another and optimize the experience for the delivery method. For instance, says Smets. "I can go from a WebEx conference on my phone, optimized for the mobile environment, to the same conference at my desktop with its richer resources, without missing a beat. As part of that, 802.11n helps further empower mobile users."
Dave Trowbridge is a freelance writer based in Boulder Creek, CA.
