CatalystTech

802.11n is the new high throughput standard for wireless local area networks (WLAN).  While almost every vendor in the wireless space has released an 802.11n access point, the IEEE specification has still not been ratified.  Current timetables show that this current draft of 802.11n (currently rev 5.0) should pass all approvals and become a IEEE standard sometime this year.  The 802.11 Wireless Group has yet to place their stamp of approval on the draft, which should happen in July 08.  So why even consider 802.11n at this point?

802.11n has the ability to increase connection speeds up to 300Mbps, about 6 times the current single channel maximum.  This dramatic increase in potential speed is alluring.  Finding a way out of the already polluted 2.4GHz range of 802.11b\g networks holds some attention.  802.11n is more flexible, it can be run in 5.4GHz or 2.4GHz frequencies and even in a backwards compatible mode for legacy clients.

A more important impetus is the security aspects of the emerging technology.  If the enterprise has no 802.11n deployment, it has no way to detect rogue 802.11n activity.  At minimum the enterprise should deploy 802.11n monitoring/threat detection systems.  The added security of the 802.11i specification has been included as a part of the draft also.

Advice for those seeking to roll out 802.11n today: make sure the chosen vendor sticks to the 802.11n draft standards, and provides software upgradeable Access Points in the case of a major change before ratification.