Communications and Technology Industry Research

Meshing is a method of increasing WiFi signal range by using access nodes as repeaters—each one carrying the signal a bit further until it reaches the destination. This type of setup is most often discussed in relation to municipal wireless network deployments, but it has other applications as well.

 

In fact, the popularity if WiFi meshing now spans several markets, industry research firm In-Stat (News - Alert) said in a report out Wednesday. The figures aren’t in yet for 2006, but In-Stat expects unit shipments of mesh access points to exceed 50,000. The firm also predicts that shipments will reach 100,000 by 2010.

 

Yet, an important barrier does exist for WiFi (News - Alert) meshing: incompatibility between systems.

 

“There is no industry standard for mesh networking, yet, so interoperability between mesh vendors continues to be problematic; customers must purchase their Wi-Fi mesh networking gear from one vendor,” In-Stat analyst Gemma Tedesco said in a statement.

 

Still, assuming the proper standardization steps are taken, WiFi meshing likely has a bright future. Tedesco noted that a positive development in that direction is the fact that WiFi clients are standardized, and enough of them are already installed to form a base for WiFi mesh networks.

 

In-Stat noted that, during the past year or two, several companies have emerged as leaders in the WiFi mesh market. These include:

 

Tropos – has the largest mindshare in municipal mesh networking

Nortel (News - Alert), Strix, BelAir, and SkyPilot – made aggressive pushes into the market during 2006
Cisco – perceived as a wildcard; launched Wi-Fi mesh access points in late 2005, and is now utilizing its IT channels into businesses and government networks

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