The outsider

Despite a lengthy tenure in the market, wireless networking is still primarily implemented as a complimentary connectivity stack on top of wired networks. This is especially true in the enterprise space where wireless is seldom, if ever, used as a primary framework for connectivity.

Vendors are partly to blame for this as wireless integration into the greater networking environment is far from seamless in most cases. However, the tide is slowly changing as standards push on, but some fundamental problems still prohibit wireless from being fully utilised.

We've come a long way from traditional wireless networks with thick wireless access points going some way to enabling the spread of wireless as a connectivity method and accelerating deployment times. But despite the promises being made by vendors that their kit will play ball, wireless is still tough to integrate at the platform level, in practice.

This is because those vendor promises are not being kept, in most cases. The promises of fully switched wireless networking have not amounted to much - partly because products being supplied in the space are often OEM. Even though they fit into the existing blade chassis, switch and other networking infrastructure physically, there is no real integration of management or configuration on a software level. The outside is bright, shiny and has screw holes in all the right places, but the internals are disparate.

This leaves customers relying on some form of middleware or other third-party solution to tie the management of wireless infrastructure in. A scenario that simply is not good enough for business customers.

Most will not even bother to try and fully integrate wireless, instead using it as an overlay network, connecting to the core wired network. This is especially true in the enterprise world, where wireless is used to offer complimentary connectivity in lobbies and waiting rooms or supplementary connectivity in boardrooms.

Wireless technology is simply not desirable enough to enterprise customers to warrant the amount of effort required for its integration.

Andy Robb, Duxbury Networking's chief technologist and technical advisor

Another factor contributing to wireless' outsider status is the lack of ability to handle users seamlessly between the wired and wireless environments. With wireless forming a complimentary environment which is merely connected to the wired network, identities can not easily roam from one to the other and security becomes a challenge when sensitive resources are exposed to wireless users.

What is required here is integrated and cohesive end-to-end security infrastructure from vendors that supply both wired and wireless infrastructure, as well as solutions in both camps that net identity management between wired and wireless networks. These vendors are around - and can provide not only robust gear, but researched methodology that backs their end-to-end approach.

In these environments, identity management is policy-driven, handling users seamlessly between wired and wireless environments. It is possible to deploy wireless as an integral and primary connectivity platform, instead of just a layered and complimentary one.

This is all good and well if you're deploying a new company-wide network, but given the legacy environments that most enterprise customers will have to factor in to wireless deployment strategies, it will still be some time before these networks become the norm. Wireless networks will remain as overlay environments especially in heterogeneous networks, because these employ a range of different switches at the edge of the network and it is near impossible for these to be properly integrated.

Wireless technology is simply not desirable enough to enterprise customers to warrant the amount of effort required for its integration.

This is where 802.11n as the next standard in wireless technology has a role to play in driving integration. 802.11n makes more sense for enterprise customers in terms of data throughput, range and other connectivity benefits. Whereas previous wireless standards were not capable enough to justify extensive work into their integration, 11n is very attractive.

As the standard is more desirable it will certainly spread enterprise demand for wireless which, in turn, should prompt more vendors to solve the existing barriers to wireless integration.

With these problems solved, and the ability to fully integrate wireless and wired environments, wireless networking will have much to offer - not only in terms of connectivity and security, but pure convenience. Absolute integration will also, and finally, make it possible to use wireless networking for business-critical applications, instead of just as a novelty in the boardroom.