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Wireless LAN Equipment Shipments Up

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the no-surprise-here dept.

MrBounce writes "Worldwide shipments of wireless local-area network equipment increased by 120 percent in 2002 from a year ago. So who are the current market leaders in this field?"

5 of 185 comments (clear)

  1. have a look at Nortel by SubtleNuance · · Score: 5, Informative

    Nortel has some really good product: here, their VOIP handsets/desktop phones and software-based-voip-phones are *very* cool... coupled with a 802.11x AP, it is VERY COOL. Ipaq + 802.11x CF Nic + Nortel Software == wirless phone in your office.

  2. long distance wireless - much greater than 300 ft by leoaugust · · Score: 5, Informative

    This is probably a good time to create a current review of the long distance (>> 300 ft) Wireless solutions that are available in the market.

    Richochet is one http://www.ricochet.com/

    and another is Vivato http://www.vivato.net/

    What are the other ones in the market?

    --
    To see a world in a grain of sand, and then to step back and see the beach where the sand lies ...
  3. Apple is just too small a player in wireless by sjbe · · Score: 4, Informative

    It could be due to a small market share I suppose, but Apple has paid the price for leadership again and again by innovating and then everyone else jumping on board.

    Not really. Remember Apple only has a small (5%) market share in computers to begin with and their wireless gear generally is only sold to people who have Macs. And not everyone who has a Mac uses the wireless so the population is even smaller. It's not really surprising they wouldn't be near the top given how popular 802.11b has become.

    Plus Apple doesn't make their own wireless gear. They OEM it from others. Lucent at one point (still?) was the maker of some of their stuff if I recall. They were innovative in using it but they never really were the technology innovators here. They were just smart enough to realize that it was useful ahead of almost everyone else.

  4. The future is not that bright by prostoalex · · Score: 4, Informative
    It is really hard for a newcomer to enter the Wi-Fi market right now. The wireless LAN market suddenly achieved saturation and started experiencing price wars even before it was fully developed and there was an 802.11 hotspot at every house.

    TechKnowledge claims that even though the shipment volumes will grow, the revenues from the wireless LAN sales will decline , since this market is currently experiencing oversupply.

    However, this is bonanza time for consumers and businesses, here are some quotes from the market report quoted above:

    The average price for a chip that enables connections for an 802.11b wireless LAN (WLAN), also known as Wi-Fi, was $16.06 in 2002, but that price will drop to $6.61 by the end of 2003.

    The price for chips based on the 802.11g standard is also expected to fall this year, from $18 per chip in 2002 to $9.68 by the end of 2003

  5. Re:Security? by pantherace · · Score: 5, Informative

    Disabling SSID essentially only means that 100% listeners can't see it if someone isn't using it. However if someone is, then they can. SSID and WEP really have some big security holes. IPsec is very good compared to it. For SSID, if someone sees you (re)connect once it's lost, and can lead to breaking wep quite easily.