Are You Ready for 802.11n?

I’ve been reading a lot on the 802.11n wireless standard. Although the standard is still in draft form, the Wi-Fi Alliance has already certified over 180 products. On the other hand according to these articles, ratification isn’t expected until mid 2009. So the question is should you deploy 802.11n now? With this post, I intend to outline the pros and cons of early adoption.

What is 802.11n?
802.11n is a new wireless standard that should deliver faster speeds, greater range, and more consistent connectivity.

Pros
+ Promises network speeds of up to 300 Mbps per client, which is approaching speeds of wired networks
+ Delivers increased network performance using MIMO (multiple input, multiple output) technology. MIMO is a smart antenna technique that increases speed, range, reliability and spectral efficiency for wireless systems, and it’s at the core of 802.11n standard. MIMO is explained in-depth by TechWorld.com.
+ Substantial benefits over current wireless standards best explained by SearchNetworking:
“Compared with the peak performance metrics of legacy 802.11 a/b/g networks, 802.11n increases peak throughput by six times and range by three times, and it improves signal quality. It does so by doubling the spectrum per channel, improving baseband encoding, increasing the number of transmit/receive chains, leveraging multi-path, and enforcing the use of the more efficient 802.11e MAC protocol.“
+ Market support – Over 180 products certified as 802.11n draft 2.0 by the Wi-Fi Alliance

Cons
– Ratification not expected until mid-2009
– Early adopters pay significant premium for first generation technology
– First generation solutions on the market have a maximum bandwidth between 150 Mbps – 300 Mbps (600 Mbps is the upper data rate limit set by the present standard)
– Full 802.11n capabilities using more than 2 spatial streams supported won’t be here until 2009 or 2010
- May need to upgrade WLAN infrastructure to take full advantage of 802.11n and to adequately support higher traffic volumes that will be generated

Read the arguments for taking a cautious approach to deploying 802.11n.

Questions
There are a few questions to ask when deciding to upgrade your WLAN:
1) Will 802.11n significantly increase network performance and reliability in your environment?
2) How often do you upgrade your WLAN infrastructure? If it’s a major overhaul and you’re buying for the future, you should consider 802.11n.
3) Although 802.11n is backwards compatible, does your WLAN architecture support the higher traffic volumes that will be generated? If not, you may need to look at major improvements in WLAN infrastructure.

If you have any question about the benefits, I would advise considering a small test deployment of 802.11n before rolling it out network-wide. In my next post, I’ll go over some of the deployment issues and considerations you’ll need to make with 802.11n. If you have any feedback or pointers with 802.11n, please submit a comment or e-mail me.

802.11n Resources
To Deploy – NetworkWorld
Not To Deploy – NetworkWorld
Benefits of 802.11n – SearchNetworking.com
Explanation of Wi-Fi Standards – Wi-Fi Alliance
MIMO In-depth – TechWorld.com
MIMO Hardware (might be dated) – Wireless.gumph.org
Good 802.11n FAQ – ComputerWorld
IEEE 802.11n – Wikipedia