2009 in review: Wi-Fi

Wi-Fi use grew hugely in 2010, but issues still remain over security

Wi-Fi went through a surge in popuarlity in 2009, but perhaps the biggest news concerned the ratification of the new 802.11n wireless standard by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers seven years after it was first proposed.

Most manufacturers are now shipping wireless routers and receivers based on the standard, which supports Wi-Fi rates of at least 300Mbit/s and looks set to become the new base level standard for wireless hardware.

Alex Smith, an analyst at Canalys, believes that many more businesses may well now consider Wi-Fi as a way of providing staff with broadband access, as the ratification gives the technology a stronger and more secure backing.

At the start of the year, United Airlines announced that it was to use Gogo, a technology from US telco Aircell that specialises in airborne broadband systems, to power inflight Wi-Fi on internal flights in the US.

This was followed by an announcement in February that the number of mobile phones incorporating Wi-Fi technology was "soaring", according to the Wi-Fi Alliance, while in July, Ruckus promised to improve its outdoor Wi-Fi capabilities for use in school campuses, multi-tenant buildings and resort complexes.

Meru Networks announced the launch of a range of high-definition products designed for Wi-Fi use that a re optimised for high-quality streaming video such as videoconferencing or presentation feeds. The new Video Services Module was designed to overcome the issues that can arise when trying to stream bandwidth-heavy high-definition video across wireless networks, which are susceptible to unpredictable loss rates.

Businesses using wireless were also given a boost in May when iPass said it had developed a client for the iPhone that allowed users to access thousands of Wi-Fi hotspots around the globe covered by its service.

Providing wide coverage of Wi-Fi has also been a growing trend, with inhabitants of Swindon given free Wi-Fi at speeds of up to 20MB/sec in November, while in April Starbucks rolled out Wi-Fi across its stores in the UK through a deal with BT.

BT itself announced in August that it had reached 500,000 Wi-Fi hotspots in the UK, and was on course for a million by the end of the year.

However, it was not all positive news, and many issues and concerns were brought to light.

In late November a pub was reportedly fined £8,000 after a customer used the free Wi-Fi network for illegal means, while BBC show Watchdog highlighted security concerns with a number of Wi-Fi providers by hacking accounts on their networks in October.

Furthermore, in August a Japanese research company claimed to have hacked a Wi-Fi Protected Access point in under 60 seconds.

On the issue of Wi-Fi networks being accessed by unauthorised users, Airtight Networks told V3.co.uk that, while 802.11n would see increased take up of Wi-Fi among businesses, it was important that IT chiefs remained aware of the risks.

"With more Wi-Fi networks being created there will be a lot more opportunities for people to attack connections and try and get inside a company's systems, and companies need to make sure they are aware of this and protect against it," the firm said.

These concerns were also highlighted in September by John Walker, a global board member of the Information Systems Security Association, in an article about the security of Wi-Fi networks in hotels.

However, while the risks are there, the popularity of Wi-Fi, which has helped drive huge demands in the amount of mobile data being downloaded, far outweighs the negatives.

Steve Nicolson, chief executive of The Cloud, underlined the growth the company had seen by telling V3.co.uk that the company saw 3.7 million Wi-Fi sessions in the third-quarter of 2008, but 8.8 million sessions in the same period in 2009.

The company also predicted that it will be offering around 11,000 hotspots, up from 7,000, by the end of 2010, which will provide a total of some 30,000 access points across the country.

Finally, in late December, the Wireless Gigabit Alliance completed its specifications for the next generation of Wi-Fi, which will be released to members in the first quarter of 2010.

So plenty more to watch out for from Wi-Fi in 2010.