Jeff Lipton, vp of strategy and corporate development at Aruba, added some dry powder to the 5G hype, discussing how it and Wi-Fi work together and how to maximize the value of both.
No technology topic is hotter than 5G. This has been a theme of recent Mobile World Congress programming, and has dominated other events, such as Enterprise Connect and almost every vendor event I’ve attended.
Some vendors are positioning 5G as a panacea for all networking problems and predict it will eliminate all other forms of networking. Views like this are obviously extreme, but I believe 5G will have an impact on the network industry, and network engineers should be aware of it.
To help bring some reality to the 5G hype, I recently spoke with Jeff Lipton, vp of strategy and corporate development at Aruba, a company owned by HP, because I know HP is already deeply involved in 5G and Wi-Fi.
Zeus Kerravala: 5G is touted as the “star of tomorrow”. Is that how you see it?
Jeff Lipton: The next focus is on connecting “things” and generating actionable insights and context from those things. 5G is one of the technologies serving this trend. Wi-fi 6 is another, along with edge computing, Bluetooth Low Power (BLE), artificial intelligence (AI), and machine learning (ML). It’s all important. It all has its place.
Do you see 5G overshadowing Wi-Fi in the enterprise?
Lipton: As with all cellular access, 5G is appropriate if you need macro area coverage and high-speed switching. For most enterprise applications, however, these capabilities are not usually required. From a performance standpoint, Wi-Fi 6 and 5G are roughly equal on most metrics, including throughput, latency, reliability, and connection density. Where they are not similar economically, Wi-Fi is much better. I don’t think many customers will want to trade Wi-Fi for 5G unless they need macro coverage or high-speed switching.
Can Wi-Fi and 5G co-exist? How can companies use 5G and Wi-Fi together?
Lipton: Wi-Fi and 5G can coexist and should be complementary. The 5G architecture separates the cellular core from the wireless access network (RAN). So Wi-Fi could be an enterprise radio front end, tightly linked to a 5G core. Because Wi-Fi (especially Wi-Fi 6) is economically advantageous and performs so well, we envision many service providers using Wi-Fi as a radio front end to their 5G systems, acting as an alternative to their distributed antennas (DAS) and small cellular systems.
“Wi-fi and 5G can and should be complementary.” – Jeff Lipton
If a business is going to make a full shift to 5G, how will that happen and how practical will it be?
Lipton: In order to use 5G for primary indoor access, customers will need to upgrade their networks and almost all of their equipment. 5G provides good coverage outside, but cellular signals can’t reliably penetrate buildings, and 5G will make that problem worse because it relies partly on higher-frequency radio. Therefore, service providers need a way to provide indoor coverage. To provide this coverage, they deploy a DAS or small cellular system — paid for by the end customer. Customers then connect their devices directly to these cellular systems and pay a service contract for each device.
There are problems with this approach. First, DAS and small cellular systems are much more expensive than Wi-Fi networks. And the costs will not be limited to networks. Each device requires a 5G cellular modem, which can cost tens of dollars in bulk, and end users typically pay more than $100. Since few or no macBooks, PCS, printers, and AppleTVS currently have 5G modems, these devices need to be upgraded. I don’t believe many businesses will be willing to pay that extra and upgrade most of their equipment for the benefits that remain unclear.
Is economy a factor in 5G versus Wi-Fi?
Lipton: Economics is always a factor. Let’s focus the conversation on indoor enterprise applications, because that’s the use case that some carriers are going to be targeting with 5G. We’ve already mentioned that upgrading to 5G will require businesses to deploy expensive DAS or small cellular systems for indoor coverage, upgrade almost everything to include 5G modems, and pay for service contracts for each device. It’s also important to understand that 5G cellular networks and DAS systems operate on licensed spectrum, which is akin to a private highway. Service providers pay billions of dollars for the spectrum, which needs to be monetised and built into the cost of the service. So, from a deployment and lifecycle point of view, Wi-Fi is economically advantageous over 5G.
Does 5G have any security risks compared to Wi-Fi?
Lipton: Some people think cellular technology is safer than Wi-Fi, but that’s not the case. LTE is relatively secure, but it also has weaknesses. For example, researchers at Purdue University and the University of Iowa say LTE is vulnerable to a range of attacks, including data interception and device tracking. 5G improves LTE security with multiple authentication methods and better key management.
Wi-fi security has not stagnated but continues to evolve. Of course, Wi-Fi implementations that don’t follow best practices, such as those that don’t even have basic password protection, aren’t optimal. But those with proper access controls and passwords are very secure. With new standards — notably WPA3 and Enhanced Open — wi-fi network security is further Enhanced.
It is also important to remember that enterprises have invested heavily in security and compliance solutions based on their specific needs. With cellular networks, including 5G, companies will lose the ability to deploy their choice of security and compliance solutions, as well as most visibility into traffic flows. While future versions of 5G will offer a high level of customization through features called network slicing, businesses will still lose the level of security and compliance customization they need and own today.
Additional thoughts on the discussion between 5G and Wi-Fi
Lipton: The debate around Wi-Fi versus 5G misses this point. They both have their uses, and they complement each other in many ways. Both the Wi-Fi and 5G markets will grow as more and more things need to be connected and analyzed. If customers want macro coverage or high-speed switching, and can pay extra for those features, then 5G is feasible.
5G is also suitable for certain industrial use cases where customers need physical network segmentation. But for the vast majority of enterprise customers, Wi-Fi will continue to prove as valuable as it is now as a reliable, secure and cost-effective wireless access technology.
More about 802.11ax (Wi-Fi 6):
- Why 802.11ax is the next big thing in wireless networking
- FAQ: 802.11 ax wi-fi
- Wi-fi 6 (802.11ax) is coming to a router near you
- Wi-fi 6 with OFDMA opens up a whole new world of wireless possibilities
- 802.11ax Preview: Wi-fi 6 enabled access points and routers ready to use
Via: www.networkworld.com/article/339…
By Zeus Kerravala (Lujun9972
This article is originally compiled by LCTT and released in Linux China