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Wireless Access Points

Wireless LAN access points have evolved over recent years as wireless speeds improved, more mesh was deployed and new wireless card architecture was introduced.

WiFi Network Standards & Speeds

Initial WiFi raw data speed will rock with the upcoming 600 Mbit/s speeds. One factor underpinning such fast pace evolution was the consolidation of 802.11n standards.

Pre-N and 802.11n Boxes

Most corporate boxes available today are either pre-N or are 802.11n-ready. Manufacturers include:

Colubris Networks
Extreme Networks
Meru Networks - Claims boxes co-exist with legacy 802.11 networks and devices.

One can expect, that now the components have reached an acceptable performance level, that WiFi upgrades will ease off.

Enterprise WiFi market leader, Cisco Systems has not been active in new WiFi technology in the past, so it is not surprising it has also been silent in announcing any 802.11n product launch, either on the corporate side, or the consumer side, through its subsidiary Linksys.

Mesh

Major players in mesh boxes are:

Aruba Wireless Networks - Secure Enterprise Mesh software supports any of its indoor or outdoor access points.
Strix Systems
Meraki Networks

Mesh applications are expected to be used for:

remote building interconnections
sporting stadiums
campus video surveillance
disaster recovery operations requiring rapid-deployment security monitoring

Early coverage and signal problems with meshed muni networks may cause some reluctance in businesses adopting mesh, inspite of claims by Strix that it has remedied these issues with its EWS 150 mesh box.