The Ruckus Room

Pee-ing All Over 802.11n? Not Really.

The market is fascinated with and salivating over 802.11n.  Any vendor saying anything about the technology seems to get an unwarranted amount of attention.  Cisco is just the latest. 

Call it peer pressure, but Cisco announced the availability of their first 802.11n enterprise AP - the dual-radio Aironet 1250 - touting it as "the first enterprise-focused vendor-branded access point in the Wi-Fi Alliance's pre-802.11n Draft 2.0 certification test bed." And all for the rock bottom low price of $1,299.  You've got to give it to Cisco for being as aggressive as they are for being so rotund.

While 802.11n represents a huge increase in potential top line capacity, the ugly truth is that 802.11n, as great as it is, (and we actually think it's great) won't become mainstream in the enterprise anytime soon - especially the way it's being proposed by vendors to give users higher speed Wi-Fi access.

First, it is a fundamental architectural departure from traditional Wi-Fi technology, taking advantage of new and very complex spatial multiplexing techniques. But what's more, it's too expensive.

802.11n requires new silicon that is currently 3 to 4X more expensive than existing 802.11a/b/g silicon.  And this isn't a single chipset. It's multiple chips. 

It also mandates new hardware on both the transmit and receive ends of the connection. This means that every computer will need a new network interface card or Wi-Fi chip that supports 802.11n (with a hefty cost associated with it). Broadcom recently said as much when it revised its outlook on 802.11n chips.

A much more pragmatic application of 802.11n will be as a backhaul wireless technology for aggregating 802.11g client traffic through a meshed wireless network (click on diagram to see how it will work). Now that there's technology (eg. smart antenna arrays) that can continually select the best path for Wi-Fi signals, you can effectively create dependable high-speed wires through the air to enable a reliable meshed LAN without Ethernet cables at all.

Dual-band (2.4 and 5 Ghz) 802.11n can be used to provide high-speed connections between APs and 802.11g connections to clients. But initially 802.11n nodes can be used as root APs (APs wired to the LAN but communicating wirelessly to other 802.11g nodes) while still providing some 802.11n client access as needed (for those that really want/need it).This will keep costs down (read fewer 802.11n APs) while providing a simple, easy, smooth (insert your own adjective here) migration path to 802.11n.

Just like gigabit Ethernet was used to aggregate fast Ethernet connections, 802.11n will be used to plot out the same course in the wireless world. It's a much more practical implementation of the technology that leverages the big pipe that 802.11n provides while justifying price tag it demands. 

Ruckus, the voice of reason?  You heard it here first.

Corporate America: Get a Life!

Companies need to get a clue-train (see book below). 

They must begin to realize that they are effectively a person with a personality. They have a voice. And they live and they breathe. While companies are made up of lots of people, that collective is a singular entity in the mind of, well, everyone.

Most people like to be with other people they like (or people who are like them).  The people who buy networking gear are no different. They're just people.

This same concept is true with businesses - it's just that businesses don't get it.  Most people want to do business with companies they like, companies who treat them right, are responsive, fun and interesting. See these 95 cluetrain themes.

When customers complain, most companies get all bent out of shape and think that the customer is a whiner or jerk.  It's just the opposite.  Customers complain (most of the time) because THEY CARE. They want the products to be better. They feel invested - invested enough to take the time to say something. It might not be what the company wants to hear but at least they care enough to say anything.  It's when customers don't complain that companies should get worried.

Given the choice between two identical products, people will choose the companies they want to do business with. In fact, customers will often select an inferior product if they like the company. The vast majority of companies don't really understand this.  They are cold, corporate, boring, stick to convention and unimaginably predictable.  They think you're either FOR them or AGAINST them - friend or foe. There's no middle ground. But life isn't like that.  And we've taken this to heart.

It's the little things that make a big difference - like providing a CHAT button on your Web site to get to a live person (even if that person can't immediately help you), it's overnighting product to someone who's anxious about getting something resolved (even if that anxiety isn't shared or justified by the company), it's admitting that your products aren't always as plug and play as you say, it's making cell phone numbers available so someone knows they can talk to someone, anyone (when it's convenient for the customer NOT the vendor), if there's some question or issue. It's letting people try out your product because they're scared it won't work right.  Stuff like that.  Customers want to deal with people, not big companies.

Companies need to begin thinking like they are a person - and decide what kind or person they want to be (who would you rather do business with: George Clooney or George Bush?)....exactly!  Now you see.

When some issue comes up, instead of getting a 20 people in a room to perform mental masturbation on some problem at hand, companies merely need to step back and say "if this company was a person, what's really the right thing to do?" Then do that.  Sounds simple, it isn't.

There's basically two kinds of people (and hence two kinds of companies) those who look at a problem or opportunity and can give a million reasons why it can't be solved or it won't work and those who immediate say "YEAH!" then give you a million possibilities of how to get something done.

We're the latter (at least we like to thing so).  Hell, we named our company Ruckus Wireless not Ingenious Networks.