Time traces

While wireless LANs are often viewed as being a totally separate entity from the WAN, it’s critical that WAN managers have a good knowledge of the entire network. One of the ways that you can get a great feel for the major trends in WLAN implementation is from the study, “WLAN Deployment Trends: Networks, Devices, Security”, which reports on the penetration of Wi-Fi-enabled devices, customers’ primary concern regarding WLANs, and the deployment status of 802.11n.

The report, now in its fifth year, is authored by Joanie Wexler, who also pens Network World’s Wireless newsletter. The first module from the report titled “Wi-Fi Attitudes Shift,” provides an overview of the WLAN as a whole. For instance, so far as deployment is concerned, Joanie points out that “Nearly half of survey respondents (47%) said that 51% to 100% of their employee populations are equipped with a Wi-Fi-enabled device, such as a laptop, smartphone or personal digital assistant (PDA). This figure is a measurable jump from last year, when just 34% said that half or more of their companies’ employees possessed Wi-Fi devices.”

The second module of the study is titled “WLAN Deployment Trends: Networks, Devices, Security.” This module points out, among many other more detailed findings, that security remains the primary concern regarding WLANs. Again, quoting Joanie, “47% of respondents cited ‘general security concerns’ as one of the two biggest challenges to scaling Wi-Fi deployments throughout most or all of their organizations. In a fairly distant second place were reliability and stability concerns related to Wi-Fi’s operation in unlicensed spectrum (31%).”

The deployment status of 802.11n is the focus of the just-released third module. In this segment of the report, a rapid acceptance of 11n is found to be underway, even though there are many nagging concerns. “Wi-Fi infrastructure and client upgrade costs” and “Waiting for final standards and standards-based products” were seen as the primary obstacles that were cited more than twice as often as other factors.

Both this report and the IP Telephony Management report are being released in progressive modules. As additional modules become available, we’ll be sure to let you know about