Wi-fi failings pose profit for resellers

What the internet did to forever change access to information, the mobile internet is doing to alter the face of computer networks.

Companies and their solution providers must now deal with how to provide secure, fast and reliable access to a new world of smart devices that don’t have Ethernet ports. The only way into and out of these devices is 3G or wi-fi - neither of which have a strong history of performing well.

With the barrage of data traffic hitting corporate networks from these new wi-fi-enabled smartphones, iPads and other bandwidth-hungry devices, enterprises must contend with data volumes that exceed network capacity and a crowded radio- frequency spectrum that is impossible to navigate.

Meanwhile, to keep costs down and sex appeal up, wireless support is often an afterthought. Low-powered wi-fi devices with mediocre antennas make it difficult for iPads and their networks to communicate with each other.

And as these wireless-only devices flood enterprise networks, user expectations for more reliable and pervasive connectivity are exploding. Nearly every vertical market, from schools to hotels, hospitals to small and medium businesses understand the value of wi-fi beyond simple and convenient connectivity. This is welcome news for resellers.

What’s wrong with wi-fi?

Wi-fi is one of the fastest and cheapest ways to relieve and grow networks while focusing on where traffic is heaviest. But it has problems that centre on fluctuating performance from a noisy spectrum and spotty signals.

Conceived as a consumer technology of convenience for the home, wi-fi was never developed to perform acts demanded by today’s user – streaming full-motion HD video, Skype or servicing crowds at public venues.

Enterprises and their solution providers must rethink infrastructure architectures from the outside in – with a keen eye on managing spectrum, latency and delay that kills multimedia transmissions.

A data tsunami?

Wireless standard 802.11n is viewed as a panacea by increasing bandwidth but the problem is realising this potential. Network managers are frustrated by its poor performance, unstable client connections and coverage holes.

The protocol is predicated on Multiple In Multiple Out technology that uses antennas to resolve more information than possible with a single antenna. Spatial multiplexing transfers data streams in a spectral channel of bandwidth, increasing data throughput as their number increases.

And 802.11n doubles the channel width to transmit data; “channel bonding” is enabled in the 5 gigahertz or 2.4 gigahertz modes if it won’t interfere with any other 802.11 or non-802.11 (such as Bluetooth) systems on those frequencies.

But without knowledge of and control over the radio frequencies, these techniques are rendered useless. Concurrent wi-fi signals may corrupt during transmission by interference or obstacles – such as brick walls, thereby increasing retransmissions, packet loss and delays. If the wi-fi system can’t select clean channels, bonding becomes hit or miss.

Most implementations use dipole, omnidirectional antennas that transceiver signals in all directions. If something goes wrong, they can only decrease their power or change their radio-frequency channel assignment – a highly ineffective approach for IT managers.

Access points

Most wireless local network vendors advocate adding more access points, lowering their transmitting power or steering clients to a less-crowded band. Adding access points can make things worse by causing more noise and interference.

Dramatically increasing 802.11n wireless throughput and reliability requires learning about the spectrum as it changes, and adapting wi-fi transmissions to the fastest and cleanest signal path for each packet to reach a given client.

Enterprises must pay attention to new technologies that automate wi-fi spectrum management and provide a more adaptive approach to dealing with spectrum problems.

“Smart wi-fi” uses adaptive antenna arrays (high-gain, directional antennas controlled by software) to overcome these issues by only transmitting signals where they are needed, avoiding and rejecting interference.

For resellers

This allows resellers to offer wi-fi systems that are more reliable, extend coverage, deliver more consistent performance and better support multimedia.

These systems have built-in client feedback mechanisms to let them know if the wi-fi signal being sent to clients is achieving the highest data rate, best signal-to-noise ratio and lowest amount of packet loss. And because smart antenna arrays are software controlled they switch over to better signal paths if something gets in the way between the access point and client.

Armed with smarter wi-fi technology, resellers now have the muscle to help their clients deal with the multimedia traffic hitting their networks from handheld devices. Vertical markets are keenly awaiting a more reliable wireless-access system that adapts to environmental changes on the fly.