WLAN Market Predictions

Transcription

1 WLAN Market Predictions

2 In this e-guide, gain access to the most recent expert content on the future of WLAN. From Wi-Fi to ac, discover what you for Gina Narcisi With the ac standard -- or "gigabit Wi-Fi" -- approaching ratification, network administrators will need simplified performance management tools that combine both wired and wireless network management in order to help the wireless LAN live up to its potential, an increasingly critical role within businesses. Jim Berenbaum, research director of mobility, wireless and network technologies for Stamford, Conn.-based Gartner Research Inc., shared his insight on wireless LAN market milestones in 2013, as well as his vision on what network administrators can expect in ac: Breathing new life into the The soon-to-be-ratified ac standard was on almost every WLAN vendors' mind in 2013, with a slew of new Wave 1 gigabit Wi-Fi access points -- both modular and purpose-built -- introduced to the market from the likes of Aruba, Motorola, Cisco and Xirrus. A Wi-Fi network powered by ac gives WLAN technology comparable bandwidth to wired access switches, making Wi-Fi plausible as the default choice for network infrastructure. "The fact that there is a new technology available with increased performance capabilities is allowing WLANs to better position [themselves] as replacements for wired networks moving forward," Berenbaum said. Page 1 of 7

3 The education segment has led the way for ac deployments so far, but while adoption wasn't widespread in 2013, the standard's ratification -- slated for the beginning of should help increase interest and growth among other industries, Berenbaum said. "One of the nice things about [802].11ac is it's a bit ahead of the demand curve, as [802.11n] is still meeting the needs of many organizations," he said. "But organizations are becoming aware that the rest of their network infrastructure -- like the wired LAN and enterprise WANs -- need to also expand to take advantage of the capabilities that.11ac has to offer." While Wave 1-enabled ac products are already on the market, Wave 2 -- a system of additional capabilities, like multi-user MIMO for ac -- won't be a big factor in 2014 for enterprises. "Wave 2 will require new chips, not just a software upgrade," he said. "These products probably won't be available until the end of the year, so they won't have a market impact in 2014." HotSpot 2.0, small cell networks could influence the 2014 HotSpot 2.0, a standard for public Wi-Fi access developed by the Wi-Fi Alliance and the Wireless Broadband Association, could be a game-changer for the by allowing users to roam between Wi-Fi networks, as well as between Wi-Fi and cellular networks, without the need to reauthenticate. Some businesses have begun investing in Hotspot 2.0 to address mobile user needs, but it's still yet to been seen how the standard will play out within enterprise environments, Berenbaum said. "The value of Hotspot 2.0 is much clearer for a carrier-based Wi-Fi environment than it is for enterprise environments right now, but there is potential for the standard to be realistically deployed within enterprises." Enterprise small cell technology for cellular services has also been slow to gain traction within the enterprise, but has potential to blossom in the coming year. Small cells can serve as another mechanism for enabling cellular connectivity into enterprise facilities, but there are still some technology hurdles related to multi-carrier support that need to be worked out, Berenbaum said. Page 2 of 7

4 Will wireless trump wired networks in 2014? With WLANs graduating from a "nice feature to have," to a critical business network, enterprises will be asking for tools that increase ease of management for combined wired/wireless networks, and overall performance across their entire environment, Berenbaum said. As users bring in more new devices without Ethernet ports -- like some laptops and all tablets -- the pressure is on for IT to ensure their Wi-Fi network is up for the challenge. "Interest and expansion for the all-wireless enterprise is on the rise, but it's not going to increase tremendously fast this year; it's still going to be more common to mix wired and wireless because the wires are already there in most cases," he said. Lisa Phifer, Wireless Networking Expert In late December, the IEEE 11ac Task Group finally completed its six-year trek, putting the seal of approval on the final IEEE ac-2013 standard. This much-anticipated and very high throughput specification pushes wireless LAN data rates well into gigabit territory, maxing out just shy of 7 Gbps. But what does 11ac finalization mean to enterprise WLAN planners? First and second waves will represent different challenges In the near-term, expect to see few product impacts. Why? The first Wi-Fi certified ac products have been shipping since mid-2013; new certification tests based on the final standard won't start until 2015 at earliest. In the meantime, a second wave of consumer-grade products that implement newbut-uncertified options will emerge, such as the Asus RT-AC87U router, announced at CES Page 3 of 7

5 As Aerohive Networks' Matthew Gast, author of ac: A Survival Guide, details in his blog, the first wave of Wi-Fi certified ac products are likely to be fully interoperable with second-wave products. That's because the features baked into today's certified ac products are based on draft 3.0 of the emerging standard and those features were not substantively revamped in the recently approved final standard. Any differences that do emerge in the second wave of 11ac products that are based on December's final standard will be incremental. The most noteworthy additions: wider 160 MHz channels, access points (APs) with five to eight spatial streams and multi-user multiple input multiple output (MU- MIMO). Together, these options will boost maximum data rates from today's 1.3 Gbps to a blistering 6.9 Gbps. Don t miss the first wave, because it will provide a foundation In practice, few enterprises really need 7 Gbps per-client throughput today. But simply migrating from n to first-wave ac products can triple throughput. Better yet, first-wave 11ac can noticeably increase WLAN capacity, client density and range. Moving 11ac and dual-band 11n clients onto 5 GHz, for example, reduces competition for airtime and improves connection quality for both old and new devices. This is why enterprises should take advantage of normal device refreshes and already-planned network expansions to gradually incorporate first-wave 11ac APs into their WLANs. When it comes to the migration of WLAN clients, however, enterprise planners have less control. The bring your own device trend has already brought first-wave 11ac clients into enterprise WLANs; analysts expect 11ac client growth to accelerate quickly through 2014 as more and more new smartphones, tablets and notebooks ship with 11ac on board. When purchasing corporate devices, enterprises should insist on Wi-Fi certified ac, preferably with beamforming, thus laying a foundation to meet growing application demands and higher-density WLANs. Page 4 of 7

6 Do prepare for the second wave of ac-2013 devices Contents Adding first-wave 11ac APs to an existing 11n WLAN requires a little bit of planning, primarily to design 5 GHz spectrum allocation -- using wider 40 MHz and 80 MHz channels where higher data rates are needed. In the near term, a few 11ac APs here and there, servicing a mixture of 11ac and legacy clients, aren't likely to overwhelm back-end network infrastructure. In addition, those APs can probably make do with existing 1 Gbps Ethernet links and Power over Ethernet. Yet as 11ac clients, application demands and user density escalate, the advantages offered by the second wave of 11ac APs will gain importance. In the enterprise, MU-MIMO will let a single AP simultaneously converse with up to four clients at once (for example, a 4x4 AP simultaneously servicing four single-stream smartphones). Upgrading will mean new second-wave 11ac APs with new chipsets that support MU-MIMO but that kind of investment will be warranted in high-density areas that by then are pushing the limits of first-wave capacity. At that time, second-wave 11ac APs will most likely need more power, 10 GB Ethernet/CAT6a backhaul links and beefier back-end infrastructure to avoid upstream bottlenecks that may emerge. Planning ahead for these upgrades now and rolling them out over the next two to three years will leave enterprises well-situated to deploy the second wave of enterprise-class 11ac products in 2016 and beyond. Page 5 of 7

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