7 Gbps Wireless?

A new wireless standard set to be release in early 2014 that will provide higher throughput and capacity.  This new 802.11ad wireless standard could be the answer to many enterprises' bandwidth and availability issues relating to BYOD and increases in high-definition streaming video.  Everything about this situation sounds great, but there are few catches to consider.

802.11ad operates in 60 GHz bands, which are unlicensed offering frequencies between 7 and 9 GHz of spectrum.  However, radio waves at 60 GHz are subject to degradation caused by the presence on oxygen in the air.  This means 60 GHz is ideal for use in space for inter-satellite communications, for indoor short-range applications, and for point-to-point, highly directional outdoor uses.  To get around this problem, regulators transmit at a high power level.  The 60 GHz band also faces problems with going through walls, which is determined by the type of antenna being used, construction of the building, and distance between endpoints.  One technology that can be used to improve performance at this band is complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor chips.

How will 7 Gbps throughput help us out?  It can mainly be used to supplement existing wireless networks by providing more capacity for the increasing number of BYOD programs and devices coming into most organizations.  This new wireless standard gives those users enough bandwidth to handle the types of traffic they generate while leaving your existing infrastructure to deal with the business-related traffic.  60 GHz bands offer a limited range, so eavesdroppers may be less likely to get signals.  

High definition video is now more prominent in the workplace so using this 7 Gbps wireless standard exclusively for video streaming may help alleviate bandwidth concerns on your network.  A typical HDMI video requires 3.3 Gbps for uncompressed transmission, so this new standard would be beneficial to this type of traffic.  

It will be exciting and intriguing to learn more as 802.11ad is released and more people implement it across their networks.  It offers unprecedented wireless speeds that can help your organization manage its growing wireless infrastructure.