Many IT Managers Are Planning To Replace Wired Nets With 802.11n

A sizable percentage of IT managers -- 44% -- are already planning to implement 802.11n, even though the high-speed wireless LAN standard isn't expected to be formally set for several months, according to a survey released Monday.

Colubris Networks, a supplier of WLANs, said its survey of 200 senior IT professionals also found that nearly a third of the survey respondents said they plan to replace their existing wired networks with 802.11n WLANs.

The respondents indicated they have already been favorably influenced by 802.11n's promise of fast speeds, expanded coverage, and capability of supporting varied applications as key motivators to adopt the wireless technology. In spite of the professed enthusiasm by the surveyed IT managers for 802.11n, Colubris still found big gaps in their understanding of the technology.

Colubris said 38% of respondents didn't know that 802.11n's theoretical bandwidth is 300 Mbps and just 34% knew that 300 feet is the coverage range of the WLAN technology. And most didn't realize that 802.11n speeds will decrease in backward compatibility situations with a/b/g clients.