6/28/2012 -- Cisco became the first enterprise WLAN vendor to endorse the draft 802.11ac standard.

Most of its competitors seemed disinclined to take a position on 802.11ac. With good reason. According to Mike Spanbauer, a principal analyst for enterprise networks with consultancy Current Analysis Inc., vendors fear that endorsing the new technology could depress demand for their existing 802.11n offerings. Why buy 802.11n, after all, if 1-Gbps 802.11ac is in the offing?

That's right. 1-Gbps wireless. It's enough to make a circumspect company think twice about 802.11n, with its paltry 600 Mbps of throughput.

"I have had several conversations that started with the question of whether continued investment in 802.11n platforms was wise given the pending standardization of 802.11ac and the benefits which it will bring," writes Spanbauer, on his Current Analysis blog.

Although Broadcom, Quantenna, and other networking semiconductor manufacturers are shipping silicon that supports the 802.11ac draft standard, the only extant 802.11ac devices are consumer-grade products from Netgear Inc. and Buffalo.

Cisco's move changes all of that. It plans to make its existing enterprise-class 802.11n kit compatible with the next-gen standard by introducing a tool-less module upgrade sometime next year. "Cisco ... announced that the Aironet 3600 access point would be eligible for a tool-less module upgrade [which snaps into the existing device] in early 2013 ... that would allow customers to take advantage of the 802.11n features the AP possesses today while ensuring investment protection for a forward-looking upgrade to 802.11ac," Stanbauer reports.

"Investment protection" is slightly misleading, however. Cisco doesn't plan to offer its 802.11ac module for free. In fact, Stanbauer acknowledges, it's expected to retail for $500, although that price could change. Given the premium that Cisco charges for new Aironet kit, however, the proposed module is arguably cost-effective. "[G]iven the access point’s suggested retail of around $1,500 and the module SRP of $500, each access point would have a CapEx of $2,000 [i.e., its list price]  and provide for a simple evolution from 11n to 11ac," he argues.

For a lot of organizations, it could be a no-brainer upgrade. "[M]any enterprises are forced to look at upgrades and make a choice regarding whether to invest further in 802.11n, which may be outmoded once 11ac becomes commercially prevalent and available, or to hold out with an architecture that may only have an additional two to three-year lifespan," he observes. "Certainly, Cisco’s access point is priced at a premium in the 802.11n space; however, given that it has a future into 802.11ac and commands a fairly robust feature set with advanced security, Cisco’s own CleanAir technology, and more, the price point begins to look more and more attractive."

There's another wrinkle here, too. Right now, Cisco has exclusive 802.11ac bragging rights in the enterprise space. That could turn a few heads, too – even as it encourages Cisco's rivals to chase the 802.11ac bandwagon.  "[F]or any enterprise vexed at the decision to wait for 11ac or go with 11n, Cisco has offered the only option on the market today," he concludes.
--By Stephen Swoyer