The future of wireless

The higher throughput means that more users can log on via a single access point without elbowing each other for bandwidth. To get the speed boost, however, all of the gear on your network must use the same chipset, and logging on to a Turbo G network with a standard 802.11b or g adapter can slow down the LAN for everyone. Not to worry; a faster wireless standard that allows all compliant devices to communicate at the same speed may appear as early as mid-2005.

Wireless by the letters

The next Wi-Fi speed standard, 802.11n, will likely offer a bandwidth of around 108Mbps. And because it will be an industry standard, n-compliant devices will be interoperable. Although the new spec is at least a year from being ratified by the IEEE, some vendors are likely to jump the gun and release products based on an early draft version of the 802.11n spec. However, draft-based products could face compatibility problems if the ratified standard differs from the draft version. For this reason, it's often better to wait on a ratified standard than to start building your network with non-standard gear. Scalability and interoperability problems can come back to haunt you down the road when you start adding newer standard-compliant equipment.

Other changes coming to Wi-Fi will include ways to make it more secure and more dependable. The 802.11i standard, which should be finalised by June, will beef up Wi-Fi security. Most 802.11i-compliant access points will need a separate coprocessor to handle data encryption, which means that existing Wi-Fi equipment will have to be replaced to garner the security benefits. However, not everyone will require that level of security, says Dave Juitt, CTO for Bluesocket, maker of networking management systems. 'You don't build a bank vault to protect a dollar bill', he says. "You need to understand what the threat model is and provide an appropriate solution."

Another standard, 802.11e, addresses quality-of-service issues and ensures the timely delivery of data packets. That's especially important for streaming applications, such as video conferencing, and it will be vital as businesses move toward using Voice over IP (VoIP) on their wireless networks. Although vendors such as Broadcom have already added 802.11e capabilities to some of their products, the final standard won't be approved until later this year.

To the Max

Yet another wireless network technology may have an impact over the next two years: 802.16, better known as WiMax. This technology supports speeds as high as 70Mbps and a range of up to 30 miles, making it ideal for large corporate campuses and rural areas where cable and DSL broadband service aren't widely available. Intel says that it will begin shipping chips with WiMax technology in the second half of this year.

'We see 802.16 as a kind of silver bullet: it gives you the range of a wide area network with the throughput of Wi-Fi', says Clint Wheelock, director of wireless research at Instat/MDR. 'It will be especially good for areas that can't be served by cable or DSL. But it's not a market reality yet.'

Eventually, predicts Bluesocket's Juitt, we'll carry a device that supports all of these technologies and simply picks whichever network is most economical -- whether it's Wi-Fi, WiMax, 3G mobile, or some new wireless technology. And then a, b, e, g, n and i will simply be letters again.

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