Wi-Fi to replace Ethernet in two years

IT ANALYST outfit Burton claims that within two to three years we will be replacing all our wired Ethernet cable with wireless.

Comparing gigabit Ethernet with the latest version of Wi-Fi, 802.11n, Burton's Paul DeBeasi said that companies should be thinking about switching their local-area networks from wired to wireless about now.

According to ZDNet, he claimed that the new 802.11n standard "will put pervasive mobility on the fast track".

DeBeasi consulted his coffee grinds and saw that 802.11n would make serious inroads into wired Ethernet's market over the next two to three years. Part of the reason are the growing numbers of lappy users, the increased use of mobile applications and the deployment of VoIP.

He said that wired Ethernet would continue to be necessary in switch trunks and data centre networks for many years to come but days of wires are over.

Still, people predicted in the 1950s that we would be going to work by jet pack by now. µ