Businesses tune into faster Wi-Fi

The emerging 802.11n standard is attracting more businesses to wireless LAN equipment and helping suppliers cope with the tough economic climate, industry analysts say.

IDG News Service reports that the demand for enterprise WLAN equipment in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) grew by 8% during the third quarter over last year, according to IDC.

Apparently the Dell'Oro Group, another market research company, supports IDC's view. In a recent report it said strong demand for 802.11n-based access points not only lifted enterprise WLAN sales in the third quarter, but also is helping increase the size of WLAN deployments.

IDG cites Ben Kwan, a wireless LAN research analyst at Dell'Oro, saying that the combination of twice the speed, twice the distance, but less than twice the price of legacy 802.11a and g equipment is an alluring proposition for enterprises.