I’ve been in the middle of Mobility Field Day 5 this week with a great group of friends and presenters. There’s a lot to unpack. I wanted to share some quick thoughts around wireless technologies and where we’re headed with it.

• Wireless isn’t magic. We know that because it’s damned hard to build a deployment plan and figure out where to put APs. We’ve built tools that help us immensely. We’ve worked on a variety of great things that enable us to make it happen easier than it’s been before. But remember that the work still has to happen and we still have to understand it. As soon as someone says, “You don’t need to do the work, our tool just makes it happen” my defenses go up. How does the tool understand nuance? Who is double-checking it? What happens when you can’t feed it all the info it needs? Don’t assume that taking a human out of the loop is always good thing. Accrued knowledge is more important than you realize.
• Analytics give you a good picture of what you want, but they don’t turn wrenches. All the data in the world won’t replace a keyboard. You need to understand the technology before you know why analytics look the way they do. It’s a lesson that people learn hard. Look back at things like VDI boot storms to understand why analytics can look “bad” and be totally normal.
• I’m happy to see the enterprise embracing Wi-Fi 6E (6GHz). Sadly, it’s going to be another six months before we see enough hardware to make it viable for users. And don’t even get me started on the consumer side of the house. I expect the next iPad Pro will have a 6E radio. That’s going to be the tipping point. But even after that we’re going to spend years helping people understand what they have and why it works.

Tom’s Take

There are some exciting discussions to be had in the wireless community. I’m always thrilled to be a part of Mobility Field Day and enjoy hearing all the great tech discussed. Stay tuned to the Tech Field Day Youtube Channel for all the great content and more discussions!