Apple WWDC brings limitations of wireless into spotlight

If you watched the video of Apple's (NASDAQ: AAPL) WWDC unveiling of the iPhone 4G, you would have seen how Steve Jobs briefly struggled with Apple's Wi-Fi network thanks to the more than 500 access points that were reportedly operating in the area. While there are those who think that part of the problem resides with the drivers in the newest iteration of the iPhone, there is no doubt, based on the simple law of physics, that having too many Wi-Fi points can pose a problem.

The issue is especially pertinent considering how widely-used Wi-Fi is today, and how it is steadily making its way into the enterprise. The typical corporation usage of Wi-Fi might range from the use of Wi-Fi in healthcare, manufacturing, government or even real-time control of systems. The increasing use of MiFi and smartphones that can be operated as a Wi-Fi point is not helping either.

For now, the use of the more advanced 802.11n standard and shifting to the 5 GHz spectrum seems like the best bet. Douglas Haider of Computerworld has some worthwhile suggestions on the implementation aspects, so do take a look at it.

For more on this story:
- check out this article at Computerworld
- check out this article at Ars Technica 

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