Why unlimited data is consumed in a flash
A look at which applications place great demand on wireless LAN and how they could be gobbling up data
With the days of unlimited data becoming a thing of the past, there has been a growing trend in customers using up mobile data much quicker than what they were doing previously. Is this because user habits didn’t factor in just how data hungry our habits were or is there something else at play?
It’s probably a mixture of both. With the rise of #GenMobile, users are probably spending more time on their mobile devices, but we also need to consider the increased data use of many apps that are on the market today. We take a look at which apps are placing the greatest demand on wireless LAN. Here’s our top five:
Video & Web Conferencing: Examples include GoToMeeting, Google+ Hangout, Cisco WebEx, Microsoft Lync and Skype. If more people join the video conference with mobile devices that have a larger screen size, the more wireless LAN bandwidth is required. For instance, Skype requires 4 Mbps for five-way conferencing. Cloud Storage: Apps such as Dropbox, Box, iCloud and Google Drive capture as much wireless LAN bandwidth as they can, unless default settings are modified by the end user. Many higher education institutions are trying to take control of their Wi-Fi and WAN bandwidth due to the sudden increase in the use of “free 5GB” cloud backup options.
AirPrint and AirPlay: Until the multicast DNS traffic of Bonjour can be optimised over the air, most IT departments will disable it to limit broadcast traffic. And each screen mirror requires about ~1 Mbps for each Apple device – adding more to the challenge. With Aruba AirGroup, we are trying to tackle the challenge and optimize Apple Bonjour over the air.
Audio & Video Streaming: Spotify, Pandora, YouTube, Vimeo, Netflix and others are the leading consumers of wireless LAN bandwidth today. Each audio stream requires about 500 Kbps of Wi-Fi bandwidth, and each video stream up to 2 Mbps. That’s a lot of airtime, especially if mobile devices are not using highest possible Wi-Fi rates when connected to the WLAN access points.
Virtual Desktops: Examples include Citrix XenDesktop and VMware View. Laptops and tablets that rely on these apps require a minimum of 1.5 Mbps bandwidth – a great challenge for any wireless LAN. For instance, internet and office-based sessions require 150 Kbps bandwidth, while printing and standard video sessions require over 500 Kbps.
The author is general manager of Aruba Networks Middle East, an HP Company. As told to Chief Reporter Sharmila Dhal
