Addressing Capacity Requirements

In just a few years, WLANs have evolved from proprietary systems with submegabit per second capabilities to standardized offerings operating at as much as a combined data rate of 108 Mbps. These high data rates are available in both the 2.4 GHz band with 802.11g technology and the 5 GHz band with 802.11a technology. 802.11g offers backward compatibility with 802.11b devices, but is limited to three non-overlapping channels in the 2.4 GHz band. 802.11a provides no backward compatibility but supports 12 operating channels today, and in 2005, the standard will expand to support as many as 23 channels (depending upon local regulations). To provide both backward compatibility and high capacity, WLAN client vendors are migrating to dual-band 802.11a/g-capable client devices. In 2005, 802.11a/g devices are expected to become the predominant type for embedded and aftermarket client adapters designed for laptops, desktops, and even PDAs. Over time, these dual-band capabilities are expected to extend to almost every WLAN client device, including application-specific devices like voice handsets, barcode scanners, and RFID scanners.

Deploying an infrastructure that takes full advantage of the expanding capabilities of the client base makes sense if capacity is currently an issue or is expected to become an issue during the useful life of the infrastructure devices. Given the rapid expansion of wireless-enabled devices, increasing capacity requirements are likely to apply to most WLAN installations. For this majority of applications, access points that support both 802.11a and 802.11g represent a better long-term value, particularly given their low price premium relative to single-band devices. For the few applications that are not expected to present capacity issues in the near term, customers can choose single-radio access points.

Aironet Support for 802.11a/b/g

* With a hardware upgrade module, the Aironet 1200 Series access point may be field-upgraded to support 802.11a.