Proxim pitches wireless LAN switch

SUNNYVALE, CALIF. - Wireless LAN switch announcements are popping up faster now than rogue access points, but Proxim says its architecture will stand apart.

The effort - code-named "Maestro" - will feature a full-blown Layer 2 switch jointly developed with one or more partners. The wiring-closet device will come with software designed to make wireless LANs more secure and manageable, as well as work better with wired networks.

Also planned are simplified, low-cost access points, and a revamped management application. The switch will be able to detect and automatically configure Proxim access points. Proxim says the switch also will work with third-party access points, though perhaps at a less-advanced level.

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SUNNYVALE, CALIF. - Wireless LAN switch announcements are popping up faster now than rogue access points, but Proxim says its architecture will stand apart.

The effort - code-named "Maestro" - will feature a full-blown Layer 2 switch jointly developed with one or more partners. The wiring-closet device will come with software designed to make wireless LANs more secure and manageable, as well as work better with wired networks.

Also planned are simplified, low-cost access points, and a revamped management application. The switch will be able to detect and automatically configure Proxim access points. Proxim says the switch also will work with third-party access points, though perhaps at a less-advanced level.

Proxim plans to ship the device later this year. A price has yet to be determined.

Today, most 802.11b or 802.11a wireless LANs consist of individual access points, with various distinctive features from the vendors, that create a radio link to wireless adapters on PCs, laptops and handhelds. Typically, each access point is wired into a LAN switch and, with some exceptions, each has to be managed and configured separately, often by hand.

By contrast, the basic idea of a wireless "switch" is to pack software smarts into a box that sits between wireless access points and the wired enterprise LAN. The box handles encryption, authentication and other security features, and subnet-to-subnet roaming, traffic and bandwidth prioritization and load balancing. Essentially, it extends the kind of structure and control over wireless endpoints that net administrators take for granted in wired LANs.

Proxim's Maestro grew out of an earlier attempt by the company to bring a more structured way of thinking to wireless networks. The company introduced its Harmony AP Controller in 1999 as a way to let administrators configure and manage all connected Harmony access points.

Proxim concluded that large-scale wireless LAN deployments needed the power in a full Layer 2 switch, and higher layer functions so the switch can become an extension of the wired network.

The wireless security gateway vendors, such as Bluesocket, Cranite Systems, and Vernier, have said they plan to evolve their products toward switches. The other group is well-funded wireless switch start-ups, including Aruba and Vivato, that have yet to release products.

Proxim also announced:

• Shipment of the AP-600, a single-slot access point targeted at small and midsize businesses. It comes with either an 802.11b, 802.11a or 802.11g adapter, and is expected to cost $280, $400, and $380, respectively.
  
  
• Orinoco 11g Gold Cardbus card for client devices, letting them use the same 2.4-GHz band as 802.11b, but with a channel rate of 54M bit/sec compared with 11M bit/sec. They will cost less than $90.

Read more about wireless & mobile in Network World's Wireless & Mobile section.