Wi-Fi persists with steady evolution

at the University of Sydney and a member of Smart Internet research.

“The big difference between networks built with Wi-Fi and traditional public infrastructure, such as cellular, is that traditional networks are very predictable, well organised and you can make guarantees to customers,” says Landfeldt. “This is more difficult with Wi-Fi. However, over time the traditional network has become much more expensive and that is the starting point as to why public infrastructure has gone wireless.”

Landfeldt says there are two types of wireless: community networks and wireless mesh, which use the same technology, but in different ways. “A mesh network involves two computing devices that can detect each other and have a link. More computing devices can be added to grow the network. Local community networks arrived later than mesh networks,” says Landfelt.

“They use the same 802.11 infrastructure, but with community networks people obtain an access point and modem themselves and use these in their homes, so they don’t have to pull cables around their homes. This method leaks wireless access onto the streets.”

Landfeldt says there has been an emergence of underground movements, particularity in the US, with people advertising wireless access areas – a move exceedingly unpopular with ISPs, who are losing revenue. “Wi-Fi is something that is certainly happening in Australia, but has not really taken off fully yet. It is more built out across England and America, where you have a number of cities which are already covered with Wi-Fi as a public service,” he says. “There are not many Wi-Fi providers in Australia, except the telcos like Telstra, but there are no small Wi-Fi hotspot providers who have a footprint in Australia.”

Landfeldt says the services that are packaged for wireless are very different from those for traditional networks.

“Wireless networks are aimed more at pure data services like email and Internet browsing, and you can’t provide uninterrupted mobility. There is still a lot to be done on this, but data services are a lot cheaper on wireless,” Landfeldt says.

Budde believes Wi-Fi has established its market niche in public places as a low cost method of access. “I think 2 to 3 percent of the population have access to Wi-Fi on an occasional basis. These are people travelling around with laptops and these people are happy to pay for access in places like hotels.”

He says one of the holdbacks for the technology is that Wi-Fi has not broken through to a larger market and it remains mainly a niche technology. “Wi-Fi is still two to three years away from more widespread commercial employment. People thought WiMAX could link Wi-Fi together but there has been no WiMAX product which can be deployed on a really large scale,” Budde says.

“There is a mix of Wi-Fi suppliers in the market. Quite a few hotels use wholesale providers: BigAir does a lot in apartments and larger housing blocks, and of course Telstra, Optus, Internode and some of the other ISPs and telcos.”

Potential reseller gains
If the customer demand is there, then resellers should not delay in considering how they can wet their beaks from the market.

“For resellers, wireless is where the market is going and resellers have to go and play in this area to service consumer and enterprise demand,” says Intel’s Casey. With the high degrees of wireless devices in the market, he says, resellers should be getting out to end users and educating them about Wi-Fi and pacifying any budding security concerns.

“There were concerns around security at first, but a lot of these issues have been overcome.

“Resellers should think about how they can benefit from city-wide Wi-Fi access and these include offering software solutions as Wi-Fi is basically a building block. This could include cab rank software to identify the nearest cab rank in the city,” says Casey.

“Australia has a large SME market and when these firms don’t have IT departments it is difficult for them to get to grips with Wi-Fi, but resellers can come in and add value on a consulting basis.

“That is a significant boost for resellers,” Casey adds.

“The channel is on top of matters in terms of offering Wi-Fi and the next level they can provide is wireless broadband,” Bradburn says. “There are a lot of opportunities for resellers to make extra revenue with Wi-Fi, including offering additional hardware.” One potential hurdle for the channel may be convincing customers that even though wireless broadband is not the cheapest, it is the most convenient, Bradburn warns.