The most common questions we’re asked by folks in enterprise IT these days are: “Should I start switching to 802.11n?” and “What do I need to do to get ready for 802.11n?”

There’s no question that 802.11n is a breakthrough technology that is going to dramatically accelerate wireless adoption by providing more throughput and better performance. At this point, though, there have probably been more 802.11n press releases than entreprise-grade access points shipped. So it’s a little early to be implementing .11n today… but it’s only a few months from reality.

What you really should be doing today is monitoring your wireless network utilization trends over the past several months. The most expensive thing you can possibly do will be to rip out all your existing 802.11abg access points and replacing them with .11n products right away. Instead of this kind of ‘forklift upgrade,’ take a look at your actual utilization patterns and trends: Where are you really approaching capacity? Are you hitting capacity limits regularly or just on rare occasions? Do usage patterns change significantly by time of day or week? Are utilization trends changing rapidly or holding relatively steady?

Your first step should be to figure out where you really need more capacity. Once you know that, you cn figure out an intelligent upgrade schedule. In the meantime, you should also start talking to your device suppliers to figure out when they’re going to start making 802.11n client devices available to you.