Networking Special : Wireless

A whole new Wi-Fi

Indian wireless LAN deployments have predominantly been on 802.11b. Akhtar Pasha says that companies are considering the deployment of 802.11g, an alternative that’s five times faster

According to Sunil P Rangreji, Wi-Fi and VoIP are powerful technologies on their own and together, they pack a punch

The latest wrinkle in the ongoing Wi-Fi saga is 802.11g, a wireless standard that would already be deployed if not for the fact that someone in the WPC (Wireless Planning Commission) forgot to mention it in the guidebook. Enterprises will now have to apply for a special license to deploy 802.11g in their campus networks. [WPC has mentioned the usage of 802.11b products in its report]. Vendors such as Intel, Cisco and D-Link say that they are in close discussion with the government of India to allow the usage of 802.11g on campus and that this is expected to happen sometime in Q4 2004.

In India, where the majority of WLAN deployment is on 802.11b, most enterprises have started investing in products (access points (AP) and PCMCIA cards) that support both 802.11b and 802.11g.

Will 802.11g supersede 802.11b?

For Wi-Fi to succeed in an enterprise, two things are required. Firstly, the technology to handle multiple and complex applications and secondly, speeds comparable to that of a wired network. Both these requirements are serviced better with 802.11g. Other factors that are driving this trend are:

Cost differences are disappearing

According to Paramjit Singh Puri, VoIP over Wi-Fi offers many benefits to corporate users, such as eliminating the need to use cellular airtime within a campus network

Jagdish Mahapatra, business development manager, Cisco Systems, India & SAARC says, “Both the standards [802.11b & 802.11g] are complementary and they cater to the different needs and applications that enterprises have. For example our 802.11g for Aironet has the same price as 802.11b. For Linksys the difference is 25 percent. But in the next two quarters we will see the price points merge.” Some vendors are already pushing products that are compatible with both standards.

Closing in on wired LANs

Anand Mehta, marketing manager, D-Link India says, “We are going to see 802.11g becoming the prevalent standard in 2005. 802.11b will be phased out and 802.11g will be the natural replacement.” A lot of future variants of this standard will focus toward better security parameters. 802.11i (WPA2) that boosts the security level of

wireless networks has recently been ratified.

More users per network

Sunil P Rangreji, general manager-Global IT Infrastructure, Wipro Technologies says, “802.11g is five times faster than 802.11b offering a throughput of 54 Mbps. 802.11g is reaching traditional speeds of wired LAN and it allows more users on the same network.” He adds “Wi-Fi and VoIP are powerful technologies on their own and together, they pack a punch.” It’s like adding one plus one and getting three. Paramjit Singh Puri, general manager, India & South Asia, Pronto Networks feels that “VoIP over Wi-Fi offers many benefits to corporate users, such as eliminating the need to use cellular airtime within a campus network. What’s more, many cellular phones lose their signal inside buildings, so Wi-Fi phones can provide better quality of service and reliability.” It’s especially useful in vertical industries such as health care, where cellular phones can’t be used at all, because they interfere with machinery.

WiMax: Is India ready?

Today, last mile connections are typically made using cable, DSL (Digital Subscriber Line), fibre optic and copper phone lines. The ability to provide these connections over wireless can greatly lower the cost of providing services. Puri says, “WiMax is a solution for the last mile access problem. It is an attractive solution for providing last mile connectivity for wireless metropolitan area networks. In developing countries that lack a well-developed wired infrastructure, 802.16 is a practical technology to extend services.”

WiMax, which stands for Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access uses a technology that has been around for several years called fixed wireless, which is based on 802.16a. It provides metropolitan area network connectivity at speeds of up to 75 Mbps. WiMax broadcasts its signal over many more channels than Wi-Fi, and those channels are less cluttered and less susceptible to interference letting a WiMax signal travel as far as 30 miles. However, on an average a WiMax base-station installation will likely cover between three to five miles.

WiMax works in tandem with WiFi. In a typical system, the signal is broadcast from a tower and picked up by a receiver at a customer location. This signal is capable of delivering a broadband connection. The particular type of fixed wireless used by WiMax can send signals through walls and around barriers so the tower and receivers do not need an unobstructed path.

WiMax can also solve the problem of keeping wireless notebooks and other mobile devices connected between 802.11b hotspots. An 802.16e amendment will add mobility to 802.16. By 2006, 802.16 could be incorporated into end-user devices like notebooks and PDAs, enabling the delivery of wireless broadband directly to the end-user on the move.

Mushrooming of hot spots

Hotels, cyber cafes and airports are common locations where you can expect to find a wireless hot spot. As per our estimates there are 250 to 300 public hotspots in the country and that number is growing at a CAGR of 70 percent. BSNL plans to set-up 200 to 300 hotspots across ten locations. MTNL will set up 40 hotspots initially and eventually scale up to a 100. Rustom Irani, chief technology officer, Sify says, “We have the highest number of hotspots in the country and plan to progressively convert our 1,800 iway chain of cybercafes as public hotspots.” But Irani quickly points out that WiFi growth will depend upon the availability of low priced client devices i.e. Centrino-based notebooks. Mehta agrees that the single biggest inhibitor remains laptop penetration or lack of it. The availability of notebook PCs at sub-Rs 30,000 price points could boost hotspot usage in the country. Sify, Apcom, BSNL, MTNL are four large organisations that are setting up hotspots in the country.

As the cost of 802.11g is almost on par with 802.11b, enterprises would build their next-generation wireless infrastructure with a view to protect their investment. Broadband wireless access over 802.11g has considerable potential.

akhtar@expresscomputeronline.com