As the traditional 2.4 GHz operating band for Wi-Fi becomes more crowded, network administrators increasingly look to the less crowded 5 GHz operating band to improve or maintain network performance and reliability. The 5 GHz band is especially attractive in hospitals, where the 2.4 GHz band often is overcrowded. But hospitals present challenges to reliable connectivity in both bands.

This document contrasts the key physical, regulatory, and interference characteristics of the 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands and how these characteristics impact critical Wi-Fi operational aspects such as performance and reliability. The document also provides recommendations for optimal dual-band deployments in hospitals.

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With throughput much greater than that available with previous wireless local area networking (WLAN) standards, the IEEE 802.11n standard has had a significant impact on the WLAN, or Wi-Fi, industry. Most of today’s WLAN infrastructure products support 802.11n, and support on client devices is growing.

The throughput of 802.11n is the result of enhancements that include packet aggregation, block acknowledgement, wider channels, decreased spacing between sent packets, and multiple input/multiple output (MIMO) technology. These enhancements not only boost throughput but also increase range, improve predictability of coverage, and improve quality of service.

To achieve a significant throughput boost from 802.11n, both sides of the Wi-Fi link – the client and the infrastructure – must support 802.11n with more than one data stream. When the infrastructure supports 802.11n but clients do not, those clients still receive the non-throughput benefits of 802.11n. With 802.11n infrastructure devices rivaling pre-802.11n infrastructure devices in price, hospitals should give 802.11n serious consideration when deploying a new infrastructure or refreshing an existing one.

Putting 802.11n on laptops and other general-purpose client devices makes sense if those devices need a throughput boost. Most medical devices don’t need higher throughput. Because those devices may be used for five years or longer, consider dual-band 802.11n for them now if you can get it for a modest price premium.

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Hospitals rely on medical devices for patient care and patient safety. When a medical device is designed to connect to a wireless LAN, the Wi-Fi radio in that device must provide a reliable network connection.

IEEE and industry standards define how a Wi-Fi radio interoperates with a wireless LAN infrastructure, and the Wi-Fi CERTIFIED seal ensures interoperability. For many hospitals, however, Wi-Fi CERTIFIED is not enough. These hospitals need assurance that their medical devices have been tested to interoperate with a Cisco wireless LAN infrastructure and support Cisco wireless LAN innovations for enhanced security, mobility, quality of service, and network management. The Cisco Compatible seal gives hospitals the assurance that they seek.

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In today’s hospitals, computing devices and, increasingly, medical devices need to connect to hospital networks without having to “plug in” to wired, or Ethernet, network ports. Wi-Fi is a popular choice for wireless network connections. A mobile device needs to stay connected to a Wi-Fi network as that device moves throughout the area for which Wi-Fi access is provided. When a device's connection to its current infrastructure endpoint, or access point (AP), becomes tenuous, then the device must move, or roam, to an AP that offers a better connection.

Effective roaming is roaming that minimizes disruptions to network connectivity, thereby providing applications with the near equivalent of a persistent network connection. When a mobile computing device runs applications that require a persistent connection, effective roaming is essential.

How roaming is done is determined by the software for the Wi-Fi radio in a client device. In general, Wi-Fi software that was written for consumer devices does not roam effectively. Wi-Fi solutions from Summit Data Communications provide the effective mobility required by medical devices and other devices that operate in hospitals. The secure and reliable mobility of Summit solutions has been proven on nearly one million devices, many of which operate in the most challenging environments on the planet.

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Even though Wi-Fi offers many potential benefits, a hospital will not rely on Wi-Fi unless the hospital has confidence that its Wi-Fi networks and devices will protect sensitive information, including electronic medical records (EMRs), that are transmitted over Wi-Fi or stored on networks that can be accessed through Wi-Fi. Hospitals have that confidence when their Wi-Fi networks and devices are compliant with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA).

The HIPAA Security Rule establishes a national set of security standards for protecting health information that is held or transferred in electronic form. To satisfy the requirements of the HIPAA Security Rule, a hospital Wi-Fi system needs strong, mutual authentication between every authorized Wi-Fi client device and a hospital network where sensitive information is housed and strong encryption of sensitive information that is transmitted over Wi-Fi.

This white paper provides a set of security best practices to ensure that Wi-Fi client devices are HIPAA-compliant.

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