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by Rajen Kumar

No Escaping Social Media

Running a magazine concentrating on issues of small and medium enterprises and managing with limited resources is a like living life on the edge. In this rush of meeting deadlines,...

Special Reports

Apr 2012

EMRC, Brussels Associates with SME WORLD as its New Media Partner

EMRC has promoted business partnerships with the developing world and has organised dozens of business forums in key decision-making cities, such as Amsterdam, Rome,...

Technology

Risks and rewards of abandoning wired access for Wi-Fi in the enterprise

Shalendra Singh – India Country Manager, Aruba Networks
Jun 2011

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A wired network has long been considered a standard feature in any organisation, offering speed, reliability and security that could not be matched by any wireless solution.

Until recently, wireless networks could easily be accessed by people outside an organisation and it was more appealing to protect network access simply by preventing anyone physically hooking into a plug in the wall.

Speed was also an issue. In the early days of wireless, networks operated at one or two megabits per second and there was a constant battle to establish a reliable wireless connection. This was compared to a stable 125 megabits per second offered by wired solutions at the time.

Today only around 20% of the workforce is deskbound, and wireless technology delivers up to 300 megabits per second. Many workers now require portable technology in the form of laptops, PDAs and mobile phones to do their job. In addition, many executives are bringing personal devices such as tablet computers to work and requesting their connection. With a device such as the iPad that is without an Ethernet port, this connection must be wireless. These devices all need wireless internet access, and Wireless LAN (WLAN) technology, (Wi-Fi), was developed to do just that. Wi-Fi is now a mature technology, able to solve enterprise mobility requirements and offer significant cost savings.

Issues on the wire

There are several downsides to a wired solution including the high cost of infrastructure, lack of security and mobility.

Cost of infrastructure

Up to four ports at each desk, and the associated cable runs and switches the ports require, drive up infrastructure costs. Since Ethernet terminations are fixed and users move around, there are sometimes considerably more edge ports than users. Once the implementation is complete the network is then often underutilised and moving ports is costly. Maintenance and management of these ports and the subsequent switches is an unnecessary cost for many organisations.

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