Wave of new Apple products will bring demand for data: Ruckus Wireless
Devlin’s commentary follows the recent launch of Apple’s new devices.
According to Devlin, Apple’s latest product launches include many new functions and features. Most notably, they include 4K video and photos, more content and further functionality of its personal assistant Siri.
But, he claimed these new features all require more of one thing – data.
“For consumers, this means they might just hit their data caps quicker than expected and will be hunting for Wi-Fi at every opportunity. For carriers, it means more data on their networks and a greater need to offload customers onto Wi-Fi,” he said.
Devlin claimed enterprises are also going to feel the effects, especially if they have a BYOD policy and have to onboard a number of new devices.
In addition, he said schools and educational institutions in particular will feel the effects as Apple TV is extremely popular in the education sector. And in order to support the new features and take full advantage, schools will require a reliable, high capacity networks.
“However, one thing Apple has done to help ensure these devices take full advantage of Wi-Fi networks is include 802.11ac Wave 2 capability in its iPad Pro, iPhone 6S and Apple TV. The new enhancements, like multi-user MIMO (MU-MIMO), of the updated protocol will provide significant benefits in the face of capacity strain caused by these data hungry devices.”
Devlin indicated whether it be the latest Apple, Samsung, Sony or Google devices, enterprises need to seriously consider how to best set up their Wi-Fi infrastructure.
“802.11n is on the way out as Wave 2 802.11ac provides serious capacity gains to take full advantage of the capabilities of these new devices, leading to increased productivity, efficiencies and staff satisfaction,” he said.
He also claimed that for carriers, their challenge will be providing a good user experience in high density locations, as well as indoors.
“Wi-Fi is the way forward. Carriers without a Wi-Fi strategy will be left behind by those that do, as more people look to connect more affordably at higher speeds on a network that has been designed specifically for data connectivity,” he added.
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