The All-Wireless Enterprise

It’s referred to as the age of pervasive mobility – and the advent of 802.11n, the latest wireless LAN standard, has signaled that it’s just around the corner. The newest standard puts wireless on par with wired Ethernet by providing nearly the same level of reliability and speed, and is being tagged by many as the catalyst for kicking off the erosion of the wired LAN market.

While the first propriety products of wireless LANs were still testing the waters with limited performance levels in the range of 120Mbps to 150 Mbps, today’s products have raised the bar with significant improvements in both price and performance: 802.11n is nominally producing 300Mbps to 600Mbps. The advanced performance of the new standard comes from MIMO (multiple-input, multiple-output) technology, which uses multiple antennas at both the transmitter and receiver to provide for increased data throughput and link range – making it possible to come close to achieving the same level of speed and reliability of wired LANs.

“802.11n removes the last real barrier to enterprise adoption of wireless LANs,” Craig Mathias, Principal at the Farpoint Group, says. “What we’re seeing now with the advent of 802.11n is the culmination of many years of work in wireless LANs, and very high performance in terms of both throughput and range, and with improved reliability I think that will eliminate that last barrier to enterprise adoption.”

As enterprises have begun to recognize that the benefits of wireless are now relatively comparable to wired Ethernet, more and more organizations are deploying 802.11n and becoming comfortable with the notion of going all-wireless. Senior Analyst at the Burton Group Paul DeBeasi, whose recent report projected ‘the end of the Ethernet’, points to four primary factors that have accelerated adoption of Wi-Fi: first, the popularity of wireless in the home naturally led consumers to desire the same in the enterprise, and second, more widespread penetration of Wi-Fi into other devices has pushed a growing acceptance of wireless. The third factor is the market penetration of cellular technology – as mobile devices have proliferated across the globe creating the ‘always-connected’ environment, the same expectations have seeped into the enterprise. The last item that has helped to create a stir around wireless is the Google Android program. “The Google Android program and the Open Handset Alliance created an open source design for mobile phones, which will encourage the development of low-cost mobile devices and help proliferate mobile communication.”

While 802.11n may be the tipping point, DeBeasi acknowledges that it’s still in the early stages. Even so, there are signs that indicate the market shift is underway, such as Apple’s recent release of the MacBook Air, the first laptop to not ship with an Ethernet port. Other pointers include the number of wireless LAN vendors becoming acquisition targets.

Going all-wireless

Though the erosion of the wired market isn’t yet fully underway, 2009 should see the initial symptoms of the all-wireless enterprise fully taking hold as 802.11n is more widely deployed and ubiquitous Wi-Fi becomes a reality for more enterprises. However, there are a number of important considerations enterprises should weigh in order to yield the full benefits of 802.11n.

One of the most important issues is wireless network management. In fact, when evaluating the purchase of a wireless LAN system, Mathias views the management side as the key product differentiator. Because all the critical elements such as security, provisioning, control, monitoring, application management and so forth fall under the umbrella of a management system, management capabilities should serve as the defining factor when selecting vendors.

“A big trend that you’ll see is what we’re calling multi-vendor management, the ability of a single management system to control multiple brands of wireless LANs,” Mathias explains. “Ultimately, we think the systems will be expanded into what we call unified management, which is a single management platform controlling not just wireless LANs, but wired LANs as well. We need to stop thinking of wireless LANs as an overlay on the wired LAN system, but rather as an integral part of an enterprise LAN solution; and as a consequence, the management systems need to operate that way as well.”

DeBeasi echoes the growing focus on network management, especially multi-vendor management as an important capability arising from the need to manage devices from multiple vendors. “Many companies deployed ‘fat’ access points and are now transitioning their network to a controller-based architecture with ‘thin’ access points. When they consider a major upgrade to their wireless network architecture, they often consider several vendors so they often deploy a hybrid network with multiple vendors.”

Aruba Network’s recent purchase of Airwave is one example of a major company turning to multi-vendor network management software.

DeBeasi also projects real-time management tools will become more important as enterprises deploy real-time applications such as voice over WLAN and seek better visibility into the physical layer. The challenge of better radio frequency visibility is another issue on vendors’ radar – and recent acquisitions such as Cisco acquiring Cognio and Aruba Networks purchasing Network Chemistry reiterate the focus on improving radio frequency monitoring.

Better control over stations is another item anticipated to be at the top of enterprise wish lists. The sporadic roaming behavior of laptops, which is largely dependent upon vendor implementation, lacks the control inherent in the more sophisticated cellular network, which provides visibility into station locations and regional network loads.

Of course, security is always an integral issue that requires ongoing attention. While the latest versions of the wireless LAN security standard have progressed significantly since the first standard to secure the connection between the wireless client and an access point, Mathias encourages end-to-end security to cover the exposed portion of the network. In addition, authenticating devices and ensuring end-to-end encryption is highly recommended.

Last, but most important, a culture of security needs to be instilled within every organization so that users don’t compromise the integrity of the network. “Senior management can take a number of steps towards encouraging everybody in the organization to think about maintaining security on the network, because any good security solution is only going to be as effective as the users on that network allow it to be,” Mathias elaborates.

Deploying 802.11n

Except for a few limited scenarios, both analysts are giving the green light for enterprises to go with 802.11n now. While the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) official standard will not be finalized until next year due to rigorous testing, Mathias assures the difference between products shipping now and the final standard will be minimal. Enterprises simply need to ensure 802.11n products are compliant with the Wi-Fi Alliance’s interim specification.

The bottom line is that the capability available with 802.11n far outperforms older technology and thus there’s no reason to delay deployment. DeBeasi urges enterprises to move forward with the latest wireless standard in all instances other than four specific conditions: when an enterprise requires the very highest level of network reliability; if an enterprise has no use for mobile applications such as in the case of a call center where everyone is stationary and no one needs mobile phones or laptops; if the risk of a wireless denial of service attack is extremely high, such as for a government agency that can’t tolerate any denial of service; and lastly, if an organization needs gigabit Ethernet performance for individual users.

For those moving ahead with 802.11n, both analysts offer some key suggestions around implementation. While many get caught up in issues of architecture – questioning everything from thin or thick access points to mesh nodes – Mathias advises not getting distracted by evaluating which architecture is best. Rather enterprises should be concerned less about architecture and more about performance.

DeBeasi highlights four areas that enterprises should consider when planning to benefit from an all-wireless LAN strategy. First, training for employees is critical as technology continues to grow in sophistication; second, acquiring the right tools, in particular real-time management tools for better visibility into network monitoring and security; and third, ensuring you have the right staff with wireless expertise and the ability to learn new technology since wireless brings unique IT issues.

The last element requires thinking strategically about the integration of indoor wireless with outdoor wireless – for example, Wi-Fi in the building and wireless mobile cellular outside. “Try to think of wireless as a connectivity continuum, regardless of whether you’re inside or outside, stationary or moving,” DeBeasi advises. ‘How would you make use of such a wireless network? We’re heading into this era of pervasive mobility, where people are always connected. If you were always connected, how could you improve customer service, grow revenues or lower costs if employees had better access to information and better communication with their customers?”

With the increasing enterprise-wide adoption of 802.11n and the end of wired Ethernet on the near horizon, the next generation of customers and employees should prepare themselves for the always-connected enterprise and be thinking strategically of how to benefit from pervasive mobility. “I really think wireless LANs become the primary or default access for most enterprises over the next three to five years,” Mathias projects. “We’ve addressed security, we’ve addressed management, and we have the ability to handle voice. The wireless LAN is going to become the LAN for many users and applications.”

Still, he foresees further developments in both management and performance going forward – with almost unimaginable gigabit wireless LAN speeds around the corner. “There’s very little standing in the way between us and wireless nirvana, and wireless becoming the primary or default access going forward,” Mathias adds.

For DeBeasi, he sees the technology behind 802.11n only continuing to advance. “For the most part you’ve got 2x2 and 3x3 MIMO access points. What I’m looking for is expanded use of MIMO technology, such as 4x4 antennas that provide even greater throughput.” While the higher combinations of MIMO antennas will increase power consumption, DeBeasi expects the power challenge to be solved through next generation silicon, more power efficient designs and better battery life. In addition to expanded technology, he also projects better station control for better load balancing and reliability, and more embedded real-time monitoring in access points.

“Wireless has come a long way in the last three or four years as the Wi-Fi vendors, the IEEE and the Wi-Fi Alliance all continue to improve wireless performance, reliability and manageability,” DeBeasi remarks. “What this means for the enterprise is that the wired/wireless gap – the difference between what Wi-Fi and Ethernet provide for network access – becomes smaller and smaller. This shrinking gap will result in the erosion of the wired Ethernet market and the emergence of Wi-Fi as the dominant enterprise network access technology.”

Paul DeBeasi is a Senior Analyst at The Burton Group, with an emphasis on wireless and mobility and over 25 years of experience in the networking industry.

Craig J. Mathias is a Principal with Farpoint Group, a wireless and mobile advisory firm based in Ashland, MA. Mathias is an internationally recognized expert on wireless communications and mobile computing technologies.