Citywide Wireless: Wi-Fi vs. EV-DO
At Computerworld, John Cox looks at the challenges of selecting the right technology for wireless Internet access: "If your company is in Tempe, Arizona, you're now faced with a decision," he writes. "Should you spend money on metro-area Wi-Fi services or cellular data services such as 1x EV-DO?"
While Wi-Fi has lately become a very popular solution for blanketing cities with wireless Internet access, Cox writes that The Yankee Group has recently issued a report called 'Myths and Realities of Wi-Fi Mesh Networking,' which warns that any unlicensed RF technology has its limits.
TowerGroup's Bob Egan is also skeptical about Wi-Fi. "802.11 was never intended [to be] and will never be a metro architecture," he says. Egan, who co-wrote the original 802.11 standard, says "Metro [Wi-Fi] nets are just a venture capitalist wish, and not an architectural reality."
The comparative reliability of EV-DO access, Cox writes, makes it extremely attractive to enterprises. As those who have deployed citywide Wi-Fi networks struggle to recoup their costs, and as cellular data services continue to get both cheaper and faster, Wi-Fi may just lose out — particularly for enterprise road warriors and others for whom security and reliability are paramount.