NC Feb-Mar 2024

FEATURE: PREDICTIONS
'extended range') - as it is more widely
known, will give you is a noticeable
performance uplift on previous standards
and the ability to support more users that are
using multimedia content, such as video.
Upgrading to WiFi 6 or 6E will also - for
now at least - be more affordable than
WiFi 7. As the 802.11ax standard is fully
ratified and established, there are many
more devices on the market. For the
businesses and homes for which WiFi 6/6E
will deliver improved performance, it will
be a good investment. It's also worth
noting that the majority of WiFi 6/6E and
all WiFi 7 devices come with WPA3
protection, which provides enhanced
security for both infrastructure and devices
connecting wirelessly.
In the end, whether you choose WiFi 7
and WiFi 6 or 6E, upgrading wireless is
going to be important. This year we are
likely to see many more users finally taking
the plunge and upgrading their ageing
laptops, tablets and smartphones. Many of
these would have been bought during the
early days of the pandemic - three years
ago or more. These new devices will
support WiFi 6/6E as a minimum - and
some may even have WiFi 7.
The wireless networks they connect to will
need to be capable of making use of their
increased speed. For hotels, restaurants,
cafes, bars and any other hospitality
business, enabling customers to get the best
and fastest access will be important. That
will also be the case in schools and
colleges, in hospitals and in businesses
where there are guests and visitors coming
and going all the time.
GOING MULTI-GIG ACROSS THE
WHOLE NETWORK
This last point is one that applies to the
whole network infrastructure. Applications
and services have become much more
bandwidth
hungry. Video
conferencing and
collaboration tools, increased use
of cloud applications and services, and
richer content, have all pushed network
traffic relentlessly upwards. There is now
a need to support high throughput right
across the network.
This is driving the uptake of multi-gigabit
switches that have the capability to deliver
speeds of 2.5Gbps, 5Gbps and 10Gbps
to connected devices. Zyxel Networks
already offers a range of smart managed
and unmanaged switches that support
multiple speeds in each direction. This
gives organisations the flexibility to
construct a network fabric that will meet
their increased need for bandwidth. This
does not mean you have to upgrade every
single element of the network though. In
most scenarios - certainly this is the case
with Zyxel Networks switches, existing Cat
5E cabling will carry 2.5Gbps and in some
cases 5Gbps to edge connections.
We'll be adding to our multi-gig range in
2024 and also enhancing their PoE
capabilities. We're doing this because the
devices now being deployed at the network's
edge, such as WiFi 6/6E and WiFi 7 access
points, along with high-quality IP surveillance
cameras with pan-zoom-tilt (PZT) capability,
need additional power to run. These devices
are usually of critical importance as they
may be providing connectivity for scores of
users and clearly, if you have a security
camera in place, it's there for a reason. You
won't want it to be out of action for any
length of time. This means an increase from
15.4W or 30W per port to 60W per port on
a network switch (POE+ to POE++).
SIMPLE, COMPREHENSIVE SECURITY
Digital security also needs to be
completely reliable. No organisation can
WWW.NETWORKCOMPUTING.CO.UK @NCMagAndAwards FEBRUARY/MARCH 2024 NETWORKcomputing 13