Wi-Fi Deployment in Large New Zealand Organizations: A Survey

Abstract

Wi-Fi (also known as IEEE 802.11b) networks are gaining widespread popularity as wireless local area networks (WLANs) due to their simplicity in operation, robustness, low cost, and user mobility offered by the technology. It is a viable technology for wireless local area networking applications in both business and home environments. This chapter reports on a survey of large New Zealand organizations focusing on the level of Wi-Fi deployment, reasons for non-deployment, the scope of deployment, investment in deployment, problems encountered, and future plans. Our findings show that most organizations have at least considered the technology, though a much smaller proportion has deployed it on any significant scale. A follow up review of the latest published case studies and surveys suggests that while Wi-Fi networks are consolidating, interest is growing in wider area wireless networks.