Fergie's Tech Blog

IETF Approves Controversial Cisco Wi-Fi Standard

Peter Judge writes on TechWorld:

A Cisco protocol has been chosen as the basis for a standard that will control Wi-Fi access points in enterprise networks - but analysts say the final standards may be ignored by users.

Cisco's LWAPP protocol has been confirmed as the basis for an eventual standard that could allow users to build enterprise wireless LANs from several vendors' kit. At present, the "thin" access points used in centralised wireless LANs can usually be controlled by central switches from only one vendor.

However, "open" Wi-Fi networks may not make such a big difference. Standard products won't be available for a year, and other vendors have emphasised the difficulty of upgrading to them. In any case, users won't care much, say analysts.

posted by Fergie @ 1/10/2006 08:20:00 AM