“The focus and hype with 4G overlooks the current availability and future potential of WiFi as a serious contender to provide all-pervasive Internet connectivity. The current WiFi standard (802.11n) delivers better than 4G performance now, and in the next 12 months when the new standard (802.11ac) comes in, consistent gigabyte connectivity will be a reality.
“As the divide between work and personal life blurs even further, good quality WiFi is going to become part of everyday life. Organisations are already paying for home broadband so it seems a natural extension that ‘company created’ WiFi hotspots will become part of the ‘always on’ culture of the future. Leaving 4G for those remote locations.
“It is likely that 4G and WiFi will happily co-exist, but Enterasys’ focus on WiFi and cloud is supported by the recent acquisition of Meraki by Cisco. This gives a huge indication of where the industry feels the connectivity battle will be fought/won in a clear move to focus on cloud delivery to supply usable connectivity.”