Viewpoint: Honeymoon for WLans could end with your head on the block

There has been a big push over the last 12 months for wireless Lans, and in that period I have seen a big change in attitudes towards them.

A year ago, during a reader round-table debate, the message from the network managers in attendance was to keep them informed, even though they were not planning installations at the time.

Since then we have seen more and more companies go with the technology. This year marks a leap for WLans because the 802.11a standard comes out. It means that speeds will improve dramatically, but we don't know yet if supplier claims will hold true.

Last month we tested the current crop and found that while there were improvements, they still didn't live up to claims. Speeds were only about 5Mbps, not 11Mbps, and range died after about 25 metres. So with claims of 54Mbps, suppliers have a lot to live up to.

In the US, companies have an advantage over their European counterparts in that they already have 54Mbps WLans. The 5GHz bandwidth they use is reserved in Europe for HiperLan, so we are stuck with the slower versions.

But we are already experiencing a shakedown in the sector. US research company Dell'Oro reported that in the States, use of WLans was climbing.

But while many WLan suppliers saw their market share rise, Agere's dropped by 20 per cent. In our tests Agere, which was spun out of Lucent, did not perform well and was described as having "overly complex client configuration and poor access point performance", so maybe this is no surprise.

Companies can see the potential of wireless Lans, and it is good to have an emerging technology that is not trying to tailor markets or services to its own ends.

Security is the problem. We report this week on the findings from the Portcullis War Bus, which drove around London looking for insecure installations. It didn't have to search too hard, but then we never thought it would. Last week, our lead story highlighted insecurities found within the Wireless Encryption Protocol replacement, the Robust Security Network.

And we have also reported on some pretty shocking examples of organisations ignoring the need for rigorous WLan security. The most conspicuous was a Birmingham school that didn't conduct a security audit, and was blas?Ž about the risks, even though the network could be accessed from outside the building.

Right now, we are in a honeymoon period, where WLans are slowly increasing in use and where, to a degree, the issue of security is being rammed home a little more forcibly. But at some point in the near future, a company will be publicly embarrassed, and when it happens, whose head will be on the block?

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