True Costs of 802.11n Migration Still Misunderstood

Survey Results Indicate Many IT Professionals Concerned Over Expense of 802.11n Deployment But Uncertain About Nature of Costs

WALTHAM, Mass. - September 22, 2008 - A recent survey of more than 200 senior IT professionals conducted by Colubris Networks, the leading global provider of intelligent wireless LANs (WLANs) for enterprises and service providers, indicated that more than 70% of respondents intend to implement 802.11n, yet there are still significant misconceptions about the implications of an 802.11n deployment, especially in the areas of cost and network architecture.

Among organizations that indicated a plan to migrate to 802.11n:

*     54% of respondents reported that cost of deployment was their

most significant concern. Cost concerns among respondents are not surprising however, considering 48% of participants believe that they will require new equipment beyond 802.11n access points. Only 20% believed that no additional equipment outside of 802.11n access points would be required, and 32% were unsure.

*     35% of respondents considered compatibility with existing

infrastructure to be the biggest hurdle to deployment.

*     Nearly 20% were concerned most about technical complexity.

While organizations appear to anticipate high cost for deploying 802.11n, they remain misinformed about the extent of those costs.

When asked whether or not respondents expected that their existing WLAN controllers would be able to manage the same number of 802.11n access points as a/b/g access points, 44% indicated that they believed they would.  In reality, most controllers will support a lower number of 802.11n access points.  In a typical high-capacity 802.11n environment, most controllers lose 75-80% of their AP scalability, a fact of which only 20% of respondents were aware.  Additionally, 40% of survey participants reported they would not purchase 802.11n access points that exceed the Power over Ethernet (PoE) budget.

Cost concerns also impacted IT professionals not considering an "n"

migration. Among those organizations not planning to implement 802.11n, 41% cited lack of budget to replace existing WLAN infrastructure as the main reason.

"The results of our survey show that while there is considerable interest in migrating to 802.11n and that a majority of enterprises plan to do so, there are still several misconceptions about 802.11n that are causing some anxiety and delaying deployments due to the 'hidden costs' of many vendors'

solutions," said Tom Racca, vice president of marketing for Colubris Networks. "By choosing the right vendor, enterprises can mitigate the cost and complexity of moving to 802.11n.  The Colubris architecture unties controller scalability from wireless traffic capacity, so controllers support the same number of access points in high-capacity 802.11n deployment as they do in 802.11a/b/g environments. Equally important, our MAP-625 access points are fully compliant with existing PoE standards.  Through this combination, Colubris provides excellent investment protection and a smooth cost-effective migration to 802.11n.  Our customers can simply plug in a

MAP-625 access point and take full advantage of 802.11n."

About Colubris

Colubris Networks is the leading global provider of intelligent wireless networks (WLANs) for enterprises and service providers. Its optimized WLAN switching systems deliver unmatched bandwidth efficiency, seamless mobility and secure, easy access for thousands of organizations and 40 million users worldwide. With its "future proof" architecture, Colubris provides organizations with the most cost-effective migration from legacy standards to 802.11n. Its systems unify and integrate with existing network infrastructures, as well as security and management systems. Colubris'

numerous recognitions include Red Herring's top 100 private companies in North America, Fierce Wireless Fierce 15, CRN's Emerging Tech Vendors and Mobile Trax Mobility Award. For more information, visit Colubris on the Web at www.colubris.com <http://www.colubris.com/> .