The vision of having a wide wireless broadband connectivity just moved a little closer to reality as Cisco announced that it has entered the mesh networks business with a centrally controlled mesh architecture and access points.
A mesh network has two main capabilities that actually set it apart from the more “vanilla-flavoured” WiFi network.
• Mesh operating system have routing algorithms that lets data find the best route – the fastest, the most secure, or whatever parameters there that defines best – back to the network or the server. If a node goes down, the system would route the traffic to another node. From this standpoint, a mesh network looks like a peer to peer network.
• Routers and access points can be wireless – it does not have to be hard-wired into the network
By combining these two technologies, companies and municipalities can start the reduction of costs in making outdoor areas WiFi capable regardless of whether these areas are a small corporate campus or even something as big as a city.
As long as you have a power source for the wireless access point and “pole rights” for setting it up, you can already cover a large geographical area in a fraction of the time that it will take to wire the same area with a standard WiFi network. Additionally, mesh networks will increase the reliability of wireless connections.
Cisco is hoping cellular carriers will co-opt the technology and offer subscribers units that can support both cellular and WiFi mesh as a way of off loading heavy traffic and improving reliability.