Wi-Fi vendors at N+I this week unveiled a flurry of news.
Here is a sampling of some of the new products unveiled in the wireless LAN realm this week in Las Vegas so far:
Belkin unveiled the High-Speed Mode (HSM) Wireless G Router, which the company says delivers up to a 35 percent increase over standard 802.11g networking speeds; offers overall speed improvements in mixed-mode networking environments where other 802.11g devices may be present; and is interoperable with and doesn’t cause interference with other 802.11g and 802.11b devices.
Bluesocket Inc. announced Version 4.0 of its enterprise WLAN security and management software. New functionality with this release includes IDS/worm protection, secure roaming for VoWLAN, load sharing across wireless gateways for enterprise scalability, and enhanced support for a Cisco WLAN infrastructure.
PCTEL Inc.’s MAXRAD product group is showing a new line of sector panel antennas. The XtremeWave line includes ten models offering various features and performance characteristics designed to fill specific market requirements for point-of-presence applications. The XtremeWave MSB2401690 shaped beam sector panel antenna uses pattern-shaping technology that allows contoured coverage and optimal signal performance within the desired area of propagation. This antenna covers frequencies from 2.4GHz to 2.5GHz with 16 dBi gain and a front-to-back ratio of more than 28 dB. It includes an adjustable pipe mount that permits uptilt or downtilt adjustment of +/-15 degrees for more precise coverage. Nine other sector panel antenna models -- including a multi-beamwidth, horizontally polarized, 2.4GHz sector panel antenna series – are also being introduced by PCTEL this week at the show.
TerraWave Solutions unleashed the Cisco Aironet 1200 In-Building Site Survey Kit. Designed to handle an array of industries and environments such as hospitality, oil and gas, manufacturing, distribution, healthcare, education, commercial and military, the kit includes the tools survey engineers need to achieve the coverage and security required of a successful WLAN installation.
“One benefit of the site survey kit is its accuracy for planning a wireless network,” says Seth Rosenthal, project engineer for Verizon Network Solutions Group. “The kit worked quite well in enabling us to present the customer with a very detailed site survey evaluation. Also, the custom case interior is excellent for keeping track of equipment and remaining organized for the next site survey.”
3Com Corp. came out with its new Wireless LAN Access Point 7250, a stand-alone 802.11g access point. The company’s previous products were dual-mode or tri-mode, so this single-mode device is a more affordable option for some enterprises.
Like the Access Point 8750 and Access Point 8250, the new Access Point 7250 supports Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) encryption in addition to Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA) and Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP). AES is the encryption standard of
the U.S. Government, and most 3Com competitors do not yet have that feature on their products, according to the company. Security is enhanced with a variety of authentication methods including TKIP, RADIUS, MD-5 and TTLS. Additional features include 3Com Wireless LAN Manager software, speeds up to 54mbps and Wi-Fi certification.
List price for the 3Com Wireless LAN Access Point 7250 is $499, and it is available now for purchase.
