802.11ac: The Fifth Generation of Wi-Fi Technology

In the last few months, there have been a lot of written on the emerging 802.11ac standard. This next generation of Wi-Fi promises to be very exciting since 802.11ac will address some critical pain points faced by users of 802.11n today – more bandwidth and more simultaneous users.  To help explain the technology, we put together a new Fundamentals video.  You’ll learn about new features such as:

• Operating in the 5GHz band
• Wider channels (80MHz & 160MHz) which means more capacity in the band
• Increased modulation with 256 QAM (Quadrature Amplitude Modulation), providing a significant increase in throughput over 802.11n which has 64 QAM
• Downlink Multi-User MIMO which allows an AP to transmit to multiple clients simultaneously
• Up to 8 Spatial streams which doubles the number of spatial streams used in 802.11n

Read More »

Tags: 802.11n, byod, mobility, mu-mimo, wlan

With all that has recently been written about BYOD, it’s clear that enterprise IT managers need to consider performance requirements on the wireless access point. With more clients accessing the network, the performance demands in terms of coverage and client density will increase. Furthermore, consumer devices such as smartphones and tablets may have difficulty connecting to an AP compared to a laptop. This could be attributed to the fact that most of these devices either do not support 802.11n or they support legacy 802.11g/a. If the devices support 802.11n is sometimes limited to 1x1 MIMO. An access point that has superior performance will be needed to address the growing needs of these new clients.

Read More »

Tags: 802.11n, byod, cleanair, ClientLink, wi-fi, wlan

Have you noticed all those iPads around the factory? All around the production areas, the office areas and the warehouse? These  mobile connected devices and applications are quickly changing business and organizational models.

They are also changing employee habits and the way we work, as more and more users depend on tablets, such as the Apple iPad, for a variety of daily personal and professional tasks.

It’s not  just Apple, though they’re the most common. All those other tablets too.  Some of the others are  capable of a drop or two, or more onto hard concrete!

The most prevalent use case that IT departments need to solve for is the one where an employee brings their own personal device into the company and seeks to gain network access. This is happening a lot these days.  Funny, but companies are finding this is one of the ways they are attracting and keeping talent, especially young talent, so listen up!

Figure 1 illustrates the Cisco solution… Read More »

Tags: access, access point, bring your own device, Bring your Own Device (BYOD), byod, CIO, cisco byod, enterprise mobility, iPad, Manufacturing, mobile devices, network management, security, tablet, VLAN, wi-fi, wireless, wireless access points, wlan

Come watch a special edition TechWiseTV, featuring Ike, to learn how Cisco takes you Beyond BYOD. Take the BYOD challenge for a chance to win a trip to the London Olympics or other fun mobility gadgets.

Today’s enterprise mobility requirements go beyond simply connecting mobile devices. It’s about securing any access, simply managing the complexities while scaling efficiently, and ensuring an optimal user experience while easing the IT burden. Gallant Ike does all of this and more with Cisco Enterprise Mobility Solutions.

To participate, here is what you do:

• Visit http://www.cisco.com/go/challenge
• Watch the 20-minute video featuring TechWise’s Jimmy Ray Purser and Robb Boyd with IKE
• Take the Challenge!  Test your knowledge and answer 10 questions. You just may win!

Good luck!

Tags: byod, BYOD challenge, cisc wlan, cisco challenge, enterprise mobility, enterprise networks, Ike, mobility, networking, Networks, TechWiseTV, wi-fi, wifi, wireless lan controllers, wireless lans, wlan, WLC

So you think you know what BYOD is? Think again!

Cisco Cius - Not BYOD since it's Corporate provisioned.

If you’re a manufacturer you’ve probably heard of BYOD, or ‘Bring Your Own Device’.  You know that more and more devices are proliferating throughout the organization. You also know that security is a big issue: How do you stop folks accessing sensitive systems, how do you protect Intellectual Property, and how do you prevent a disastrous shutdown caused by a device either intentionally or unintentionally?

Well, these are only some of the issues -- and they’re rarely addressed by a ‘Good-Enough Network’. Cisco’s BYOD is different -- it looks at the whole picture. It’s not just about your wireless network -- although the Cisco offerings are better than most! It’s about an holistic approach to BYOD. That covers the plant, IT, the LAN and fixed wired network and the wireless network too. All aspects.

As my colleague, Katie Taylor, says in her blog: Read More »

Tags: access point, beyond byod, bring your own device, Bring your Own Device (BYOD), byod, CIO, cisco byod, enterprise mobility, Manufacturing, MDM, Mobile Device Management, mobile devices, network management, vpn, wi-fi, wireless, wireless access points, wireless LAN, wlan