The bandwidth glut that occurred in the mid-1990s when switched and Fast Ethernet started to appear on campus networks played a significant role in suppressing interest in implementing LAN-based quality-of-service schemes. In a somewhat bizarre twist, the move to wireless may well cause this situation to reverse itself.
While IDC predicts that the market for Ethernet LAN and routing gear will rebound this year from a 2001 slump, sales figures for the fourth quarter of last year show the road to recovery could be long.