It was noted in the July 2006 IEEE Spectrum, that soon (sometime in late 2008) Wi-Fi Access Points (AP’s) will be able to form mesh networks. Mesh Wi-Fi networks can help make wireless networks cheaper to build and operate by allowing a group of AP’s to communicate with each other and share only one high-speed connection to the Internet. This functionality was provisionally formalized in March 2006 by IEEE in the 802.11s standard. The standard still needs to go through several more IEEE approvals before it is “official.”
The article pointed out that several manufacturers already have mesh technologies in their AP’s, including Motorola, Nortel, and Tropos. In our opinion, it is reasonable to expect some vendors to push pre-standard products to market prior to official IEEE approval. It is unclear how these pre-standard products will be tested for compatibility and interoperability with other vendor’s products. Vendors may take a “best shot” at their interpretation of the standard and then make their products “standard” after the fact via patches or upgrades. Of course, this patching would be done by the owners and at the owner’s expense, driving up the total cost of ownership.
Cherry, Steven. “Wi-Fi Nodes to Talk Amongst Themselves.” IEEE Spectrum. July 2006. 55-56.
Ralph Bach has been in IT long enough to know better and has blogged from his Bach Seat about IT, careers, and anything else that catches his attention since 2005. You can follow him on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter. Email the Bach Seat here.