Xirrus eschewed 'traditional' omni-directional Access points (AP) designs in favor of packing up to 16 APs with integrated directional antennas into a single Array. Inspired by the design of cell towers, Xirrus says such an arrangement allows its high performance Wi-Fi Array to support large number of users at conferences and exhibitions with up to 99.999% reliability. The company compares its Array to that of an Ethernet switch, and envisions an enterprise network connected primarily by Wi-Fi.

I had a number of questions about the company's unique approach to its range of high-density Wireless LAN hardware, as well as questions pertaining to the deployment of Wi-Fi in businesses. The questions were posed to John Merrill, Director of Marketing and Communications at Xirrus.

FCIO: How does the product lineup from Xirrus differ from that of competing enterprise Wi-Fi solutions?

John Merrill: The WLAN industry faces the same challenges today as the cellular industry did over a decade ago when it had to scale the capacity and coverage of cellular networks to satisfy the surge of handsets in the market. Xirrus leveraged the cellular industry's architecture of deploying base stations with multiple radios and sectored directional antennas to increase the capacity and coverage of WLANs.

The Xirrus Array integrates up to 16 access points and a WLAN controller in a single device to deliver more coverage, bandwidth and capacity while reducing the number of devices, cable pulls, switch ports and installation time by 75 percent in comparison to legacy systems. Xirrus addresses the explosive growth of mobile devices in the workplace with technology that meets today's enterprise demands for scalability by delivering lower system costs, faster deployments and easier upgrades. These ultimately yield a dramatic reduction in the total cost of ownership for WLANs.

FCIO: Would deploying multiple APs achieve the same result?

John Merrill: No, it will be different because of interference from the adjoining channels. Let us first visualize each channel as a different color. Now, assume that only certain colors can cross over without causing poor performance: 2.4GHz has three while 5GHz has 24. What the Xirrus Array does is integrate up to 16 different color flashlights in a circular pattern, so their colors go in a certain direction and don't cause interference. A typical AP has two colored light bulbs casting light everywhere, so you can only put a few APs near each other without causing interference and the ensuring poor performance. Plus the strength of the flashlight is much stronger than a light bulb, so you need fewer devices to cover an area.

FCIO: But won't incorporating multiple radios into one AP create problems related to RF (Radio Frequency) interference?  

John Merrill: It does unless you're using sectored directional antennas like the cellular folks. Again, the Xirrus Array uses a single MAC to control all the radios so it functions like a single AP. Our patented Wi-Fi Array is manufactured in the US and is the only fully distributed, dense radio Wi-Fi architecture available in the industry today. 

Xirrus' long-term sustainable differentiation is based upon RF innovation. This focus on RF innovation, specifically RF isolation, management and shaping has enabled Xirrus to develop its Array architecture to deliver more coverage, bandwidth, throughput and user density per device far over that of any other offering. By utilizing the sectored RF and patented technology, we can concentrate the RF so there is no interference.

FCIO: What is your opinion of 802.11ac? Do you foresee it finally enabling the replacement of Ethernet networks?

John Merrill: Most definitely! Wireless speeds are approaching wired speeds. In fact, I'd say for most enterprise users that we are already there with 150 and 300Mbps speeds. Xirrus looks forward to supporting 802.11ac which is targeted to be available sometime in 2012. The Xirrus Wi-Fi Array has a modular architecture that allows upgradeable radios to be swapped out for newer radio technology as it becomes available, and which our customers took advantage of to migrate from 802.11abg radios to 802.11n radios. This feature greatly increases the useful lifespan of the product and protects the customer's investment. Need more bandwidth, not problem, simply upgrade your Wi-Fi Array to more radios. The other guys can't do that, they need to install more APs, pull more cable, and use more switch ports--very difficult and costly.

FCIO: What are the typical challenges faced by businesses deploying Wi-Fi for the first time?

John Merrill: Knowing which architecture will give them what they need. Several vendors continue to push security as the most important feature, while others market manageability. Xirrus believes we are past both those things with existing standards and technology--we're pretty much similar in those areas. What IT needs to figure out is how to increase Wi-Fi density and give all wireless users a quality of experience in network access and bandwidth akin to that of wired.

In addition, businesses need to stop looking at wireless as a hot spot or overlay technology and begin using it as the primary connection for users. Most mobile devices in widespread use ship without Ethernet ports, and ranges from smartphones, tablets, even notebooks.  The only way to support this explosion of wireless users is with more radios. And, the only way to scale is by integrating them in wireless arrays like the cellular phone industry did with cell towers.

FCIO: How should businesses decide whether to settle for wired or wireless networking?

John Merrill: Businesses should look at their user base and work out the devices and applications needed to get their work done and provide the best level of service for their customers. If everything can be done via wired workstations inside cubicles, then that scenario is probably not an ideal fit for wireless. But if the company uses a large number of portable devices such as notebooks, tablets, and smartphones, experience constant configuration changes to office space, or is housed in difficult-to-wire buildings, then wireless is ideal for them and will save them time and money over wired networking. I personally see very little use for wired anymore; wherever I go and I see people wanting to be mobile--business people, educators, doctors, even lawyers--they are demanding the same mobility they get at home from their organizations.

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The transition between Ethernet to Wireless LAN