Wireless networking is evolving. But while new versions of Wi-Fi offer plenty of additional speed, each has trade-offs.
The vast majority of existing Wi-Fi networks use the 802.11b standard. But two more variations are coming down the pike, and no one -- including vendors -- is quite sure how businesses and consumers will handle the change.
"This is turning into a big migration headache," said Sarah Kim, an analyst at the Yankee Group.
Most people now use the 802.11b version of Wi-Fi that offers data rates of 11 megabits per second at a 2.4-GHz radio frequency. Products using a different faster standard, 802.11a, are just becoming available -- and promise speeds of 54 Mbps.
Sounds great, but 802.11a products use the 5-GHz band, and therefore are not compatible with 802.11b.
A third flavor in this alphabet soup is 802.11g, a format that won't be officially approved until May. This version also offers 54-Mbps speeds, but uses the 2.4-GHz band so it can play nice with 802.11b.
Both new wireless standards offer more advantages than simply speed.
Tony Grewe, director of strategic marketing for wireless networking component maker Agere Systems, said 802.11g offers a 20 percent wider transmission range than 802.11b, which typically reaches a maximum of 300 feet but more often delivers a range closer to 100 feet.
Agere recently announced plans to team with Infineon Technologies to develop chips supporting all three wireless versions.
With multiple formats available, Grewe said it's difficult to predict which technologies customers will demand. Multiband components are complicated, requiring two complete radio systems to send data over either frequency, but the result is a chip that works in any wireless system.
Grewe expects faster wireless networking systems to take off in late 2003. One scenario calls for a broadband connection to a home media hub, which could distribute TV signals, digital audio, gaming and other entertainment wirelessly throughout the house.
With high-definition TV signals requiring nearly 20 Mbps of bandwidth, 802.11b's 11 Mbps won't be fast enough.
"We think home multimedia will be a big application (for faster wireless networking systems), but we don't expect to see that really happen until 2004 or 2005," Grewe said.
One reason: Need for a 54-Mbps wireless connection hardly exists when today's DSL and cable modem connections rarely pull data at speeds faster than 11 Mbps.
"People tend to forget that faster home networking is going to require faster broadband pipes to deliver content to the home," said Kim.
But 802.11a offers at least one advantage right now: more radio channels.
"Using more channels is like having more lanes on the freeway," said Robert Fan, a representative for Resonext Communications. "It means 802.11a gives you the capacity to support more users at the same time," important on networks in schools, large businesses and public places.
The trade-off with 802.11a is shorter range. Switching to a higher frequency lowers the range to about half the distance achieved by 802.11b.
