802.11n expected to spur Wi-Fi Growth

ABI Research has published a study indicating that firms are starting to switch out their existing wireless infrastructure. 802.11a/g access points still dominate the market, with about 84% of the installed devices using that standard. However, the research finds that, in recent months, health care and higher-learning institutions have begun deploying the faster 802.11n access points.

This has important implications for new office construction and network design. With real world throughput that clocks in at 160 Mbps or faster, many office technology users may not require a hard-line connection to the network. Unless the user needs to download significant amounts of data to their desktop, 160Mbps will certainly be fast enough. And in reality, the vast majority of office technology usage consists of e-mail and web-based applications... neither of which truly require the kind of throughput that a hard-line connection enables.

The consumer market will make the switch soon enough, according to the study. As existing devices come to the end of their useful life, home users will want to take advantage of the improved performance, as well. But I would not expect that to take place until later in 2010, assuming the economy has recovered by then.

Read the article in InformationWeek: Wi-Fi Boom fueled by 802.11n
Learn more about 802.11n: 802.11 Speed