802.11k or wireless networking madness

Apparently an 802.11k precursor is availible on Cisco access points. 802.11k is an extension to the 802.11a,b,g specs adding what amounts to load balancing. Compatible clients will receive messges or have the ap's signal strength changed to force them over to under-utilized access points. While this sounds very nice. It is not yet approved, and most wifi chipset manufacturers make no mention of support. With that stated, why would anyone deploy it in a production environment where heterogenous devices would be interacting? It boggles the mind.

Apparently there are fairly large institutions implementing 802.11k with cisco hardware. They are also apparently unaware of a possible connection between packetloss on their networks and 802.11k. Were I responsible for a facility with a large wireless network experiencing packet loss and signal drop outs, I'd have a very short list of possible causes. Begining with any and all non-standard technologies in use. Wonder if the same people enjoyed forcing the square peg into the round hole...