Continuing the march toward more heterogeneous networks, the CTIA show has seen a series of announcement on the evolution of Wi-Fi in wireless networks.
Ubiquiti released a report on the state of Wi-Fi that reflected nearly half of users giving the technology a “B” grade in their hometowns, and fully 70% saying workplace productivity was hampered when Wi-Fi is not available. Availability is affecting users’ choices of where to spend their dollars, as well – a whopping 79% of the 1,000 working professionals surveyed said that they choose hotels and restaurants based on Wi-Fi availability. Thirty-two percent of participants said they want better Wi-Fi at hotels, with another 19% prioritizing restaurants and coffeehouses. Eighteen percent want more public, outdoor Wi-Fi connectivity.
Check out an infographic on the findings here.
Dell’Oro Group issued findings that the wireless LAN market grew 17% in the first quarter of this year, with Cisco Systems and Hewlett-Packard gaining the most market share sequentially in enterprise-class and outdoor mesh nodes. Outdoor device shipments were the strongest segment overall. In the service provider Wi-Fi market, the top three vendors by revenue were Cisco, Ericsson and Ruckus Wireless.
“In 2013, vendors will introduce enterprise-class product refreshes that encompass two important advancements – wireless and wired convergence, and the new Wireless LAN standard, 802.11ac,” said Chris DePuy, VP of wireless LAN research at Dell’Oro Group. “Each of the leading vendors is employing a different strategy as they navigate these two market conditions. So, we expect market shares and growth rates could be volatile over the next several quarters.”
That prediction has already been born out, with Aruba Networks launching its first 802.11ac product for enterprise at CTIA 2013. The company said its new Aruba 220 series access points deliver gigabit Wi-Fi connectivity, and that the new nodes are smaller and more power efficient that other options, relying on only two radios rather than three. The company said it conducted testing that reflected better performance than similar Cisco APs when matched with Aruba’s ClientMatch solution, which steers client devices to the best possible AP depending on local conditions.
Aruba said that the new devices will be available next month, and SDN provider Arista Networks already plans to use the new 220 series in a new five-story building with 75 access points to provide all-wireless access to about 1,000 employees by this fall. Aruba is working with cloud and mobility systems integrator Exafort on the installation.
Aruba also announced this week that it is providing wireless LAN connectivity for 330 Red Robin restaurants around the country, to support multimedia training of new hires and the use of iPads for restaurant managers to use in operations. The two companies have been working together since Aruba outfitted the Red Robin headquarters in Colorado and corporate-owned restaurants, back in 2009.
For insight on trends in the Wi-Fi market and Hotspot 2.0, RCR’s Jeff Mucci spoke with Ruckus Wireless at the show.
