First 802.11ad products shipping soon for wireless office

The first products built around the Wi-Fi standard 802.11ad, a technology that eliminates the use of hard-wired PC peripherals in the office, are expected to be available this year.

Chipmaker Qualcomm, wireless router maker TP-LINK and computer maker Acer showed off 802.11ad products last week at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. The products are set for release in the coming months.

The standard complements 802.11ac, which organizations use for computer-to-infrastructure network connectivity in wireless LANs (WLANs). Rather than connect devices to the Internet, 802.11ad is used for a personal area network (PAN).

A PAN connects wireless monitors, speakers, storage and other devices to PCs in a single room. The 802.11ad standard uses the 60 GHz band in providing very fast connections over short distances, a kind of "Bluetooth on steroids," said Lisa Phifer, a consultant for emerging technologies at Core Competence Inc., based in Santa Fe, N.M.

Also called WiGig, 802.11ad has a throughput of up to 7 Gbps and a range of roughly 30 feet. Enterprises will find the technology most suitable for wireless docking of PCs and for video conferencing, Mark Hung, an analyst at Gartner, said.

"Given 802.11ad certification is expected mid-2016, we'll probably see early adoption of the technology at the end of this year or next year," said Hung. The Wi-Fi Alliance, a nonprofit industry association, provides certification of Wi-Fi-enabled products.

The IT department at the University of South Florida in Tampa has been watching the development of 802.11ad for some time, Joe Rogers, associate director of network engineering, said. While the technology appears to be useful, "I'd still be wary of interference issues in high-density office environments."