Greg Meckbach is editor of Network World Canada and has worked for ComputerWorld Canada, Communications & Networking and Computing Canada. 
Howard Solomon is assistant editor of Network World Canada and has worked for Computing Canada and Computer Dealer News. 
Wi-Fi hits 5,000
(1 votes, average: 7 out of 10)
Loading ...Five thousand consumer and enterprise products have been certified by the Wi-Fi Alliance’s testing program since March, 2000, the group announced this week to trumpet the popularity of the wireless technology. More than 1,000 products alone have been given the green light in the 12 months ending in September. Almost everything from access points to smartphones are taking advantage of Wi-Fi, and the number will grow now that the faster “n” standard is close to being finalized. Only one other wireless technology can challenge it.
WiMAX is faster, but some argue its better suited for long-range uses — building-to-building, for example, or, in it’s mobile version, for people on the go who need metro WAN coverage. However, industry analyst Rob Enderle notes that’s where it can threaten Wi-Fi. If you can get WiMAX reception in your home or office, he argues, why set up a Wi-Fi network? Watch Sprint’s WiMAX Xohm network, now being tested in Baltimore, he says.
Understandably, alliance CEO Edgar Figueroa doesn’t think WiMAX is in the same league, particularly because it has to be used in licenced frequencies while Wi-Fi operates in unlicenced bands.
Unquestionably the increasing interest in Wi-Fi from manufacturers is because the 802.11n draft standard is presumed to be close to the final one that will be approved by the IEEE. But Figueroa noted an increasing number of cellular handset makers want to put it in their products as well — witness the iPhone, for example. Such dual mode phones will be able to use less expensive Wi-Fi networks where available if cellular coverage is spotty, saving the customer money and extending range when using data applications such as surfing the Web. When the alliance finalizes its Voice over Wi-Fi Enterprise certification rules, at least 12 months from now, organizations will become interested in handsets that switch from the cellular to the wireless LAN as a money-saver.
But Figueroa said Wi-Fi will also extend deeper into consumer products. “We have been testing a range of consumer electronics from gaming devices to televisions. It just seems like Wi-Fi is getting a pretty strong foothold in the connected home as the de facto networking technology.”
So this time next year, perhaps there will be 7,000 Wi-Fi certified products.
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