Broadcom and Intersil add to wireless alphabet soup

Broadcom and Intersil today complicate the wireless LAN cost/benefit calculations of network executives everywhere.

Both chipmakers are introducing chipsets that support the not-yet-ratified IEEE 802.11g standard, which promises a wireless LAN data rate of 54M bit/sec, the same as 802.11a, but at much longer distances because its uses the 2.4Ghz band used by today's 11M bit/sec 802.11b products.

Netgear and Linksys are unveiling prototype WLAN gear that uses the Broadcom silicon, and Buffalo will announce its intent to use the same chipset in a future line of 11g products. Some of these are likely to have dual-mode cards -- a single adapter card that can make use of either 2.4 GHz for 11b or 11g, or 5 GHz for lla. Previously, Cisco had announced it was working closely with Intersil to create similar products, due out once the IEEE has finalized ratification of the 11g standard. Final ratification is expected in December.

Most network executives with whom I talk insist that 11M bit/sec has proven to be more than enough bandwidth for all current applications. Some of these are hospitals moving around x-ray and other images wirelessly to handhelds.

Most vendors with whom I talk say that 802.11a is the direction everyone will go … eventually. It's in how you define "eventually" that makes cost-benefit analysis trickly.

With 11g access points, your 11b clients can still operate: 11g has been designed to drop down to 11M bit/sec when it senses an 11b client card or access point. So, the argument goes, you can replace the 11b cards in your access points with 11g, and then as your slowly phase in 11g client cards, each client gets to connect at the higher data rate.

But, the 2.4 GHz band has a lot of activity in it, especially in some industries like healthcare, where baby monitors and other equipment can use the same frequency. That's being worsened by the slowly rising tide of Bluetooth devices. During demonstration recently with Mobilian, which is unveiling this week a chipset that can broadcast Bluetooth and 802.11b radio signals at the same, the impact of a Bluetooth transmission on a WLAN signal is devastating. Mobilian's chipset insulates the two signals from each other.

And until 11g is ratified, none of the vendors can say "we've got an 11g product." They have to dance around the fact that however closely their product hews to the draft standard, it's still only a draft. The Wi-Fi Alliance is announcing this week a plan for starting 11g tests and certifying interoperability of wireless LAN products.

So, what do YOU make of this alphabet soup of wireless LAN options? Have you made any decisions? What are the issues you see in figuring out which option is right for your compahy?

Linksys is shipping both WRT51AB and WRT54G for their customers to select from.
They are leading wireless vendors with recent innovative products.
I don't think any wireless vendors can ship these products with features, performance, and prices.

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