Does 802.11n Spell the 'End of Ethernet'?

alphadogg writes "Is the advent of the 802.11n wireless standard the 'end of Ethernet'... at least in terms of client access to the LAN? That's the provocative title, and thesis, of a new report in which the author began looking into the question when he heard a growing number of clients asking whether it was time to discontinue wired LAN deployments for connecting clients. Would 11n, the next generation high-throughput Wi-Fi, make the RJ45 connector in the office wall as obsolete as gaslights?"

Um, no.

[morgan_greywolf]

When the Porcine Aviation Assocation makes WiFi as secure as wired LAN, then we'll see the end of Ethernet. Until then, no.

Re:Yes, of course

[winkydink]

What do they teach them in schools these days?

Had a look at Myspace or Facebook? Sigh.

Re:Um, no.

[arivanov]

Pigs can fly. It is a matter of applying sufficient thrust.

It is a matter of contention ratio.

An average office has a contention ratio of 1:100 for server access and it still works. A WLAN contended to 1:100 will not work. So you have to upgrade your porcine fleet with higher thrust engines. You do that by rolling out a big wireless switch and many small accesspoints under its control each of which has a contention ratio of under 1:10. At that contention ratio deployments for anything more than 10PCs is uneconomical.

This is all of course if we leave the security aside. But that is another story.

Re:Yes, of course

[peacewon]

Hmmm... Makes you wonder about the effects of multiple sequences of ones and zeros traveling through my brain right now in radio frequency form. Also makes me think of the fried egg drug commercial.

Re:Um, no.

[jimstapleton]

it uses a hyperdimensional tracever, which sends the signal through its own alternate reality, where no signal is being sent to interfere with it, and not only that but there is no pesky weather to bother it either!

No, those space ships popping into existance in the sky aren't angry-transdimensional aliens coming to ravage our world because we were dropping harmful EM radiaition onto their pleantes, honestly!

Re:Yes, of course

[Tiger4]

This is totally a replacement for wired connectivity, because in a building with three or four hundred computer users, there won't be any radio interference between wireless cards.

And when someone decides to fire up the microwave oven for coffee break or popcorn, all those other users can take a break with them. "Teaming" at its finest. This is Win-Win for all concerned! Synergize forward to the Wireless Productivity Revolution!!

Re:Um, no.

[modecx]

Yeah, trouble is, it's a little more obvious when you trip over a foreign CAT 5 cable at 2:00 AM, just to find it leading over to your neighbor's house. It's also a lot easier to wire said cable up to a 110v plug...

Re:Um, no.

[tooslickvan]

This UTOPIA you speak of sounds ideal. Does it come with fluffy white bunnies?

Re:Um, no.

[nacturation]

Regardless how much thrust is applied/generated, a pig is simply the wrong shape. An unmodified pig can not fly or glide.

But what if the pig were suspended via twine attached to the dorsal feathers of a flock of swallows?
 

tcp vs udp

[sgt scrub]

Wireless will displace wired in the same way that UDP displaced TCP.

Re:Um, no.

[mcmonkey]

]This UTOPIA you speak of sounds ideal. Does it come with fluffy white bunnies?

No, but it does come with OMFG ponies.

Re:Um, no.

[Anonymous Coward]

Great. Thanks alot.

I was going to offer him 'Specialized' foil wrapped UTP cable at bargain bin prices.

Thanks for ruining my millionaire dream. Oh, well..... Back to my wireless cav, er basement.

Re:Um, no.

[NeilTheStupidHead]

Thanks for the tip, but at $475 per five litres, it would be cheaper to build a faraday cage, or buy a new, more powerful router and start an inevitable arms race that will eventually lead to violations of CPC-2-0-03 [ic.gc.ca]. (Hint, since I build and repair transceivers for a living, I'll probably win ^>^ )