Top Wi-Fi Trends – 2014 Predictions for the Enterprise

Wi-Fi based location analytics will play a bigger role for organizations to increase business intelligence, define security policy, and improve customer/user Wi-Fi experience.

Analytics will become more important specifically to correlate the myriad data points from clients (locations, apps, device type, trending, etc.).

We’ll see a continuation of adoption and integration of BYOD solutions and device management.
802.11ac Access Point (AP) adoption will increase, mainly driven by more 802.11ac-enabled devices, and as vendors release lower cost 2×2 802.11ac APs.

Top Wi-Fi Trends – 2014 Predictions for Carriers/Service Providers

Enterprises continue to look to service providers for a managed Wi-Fi service to address issues with network complexity, new services, and a skills shortage in many IT shops.

Work will continue on policy solutions that will help smartphones to select between Wi-Fi and cellular connectivity. This is a complex issue, and one that will not be resolved for several more years.
Seamless Wi-Fi handoff will become a reality with technologies like 802.11r and 802.11k making their way into mobile devices and APs. No longer will smartphones try to cling to the AP that they associated with even as the user moves into another coverage area. This will allow Wi-Fi to emulate the seamless handoff experience that we all enjoy with cellular services.

802.11ac continues to make inroads, with the really compelling step forward coming with multi-user MIMO in Wave 2. This will allow access points to talk with as many as 4 single stream smartphones at the same time.

No matter how much network capacity is put in place through a combination of cellular and Wi-Fi, it will never be enough. More spectrum and spectrum sharing ideas are required, along with ever greater network densification.