Adtran merges WAN router with LAN switch

Aiming to lower the number of devices required in space- and budget-constrained business locations, network-access company Adtran this week is announcing a combination IP WAN router and Ethernet switch. The product is available in two flavors: the 1224R contains 24 10/100 Ethernet ports; the 1224STR adds a copper or fiber gigabit uplink to the configuration.

The uplink could be used for high-speed server access, stacking requirements, or eventually to connect to Ethernet last-mile services, notes Jan Heering, Adtran product manager.

The combo product would allow smaller sites to buy a single device that serves both the LAN and the WAN. As such, the devices are likely to be particularly attractive to retailers, for example, which have many highly distributed sites with space limitation requiring connectivity to headquarters.

Adtran’s single-rack unit (1RU) products build on the company’s NetVanta 3000 series access routers, launched in 2002, which combined a stateful firewall and optional VPN encryption with an IP WAN router much more economically than buying separate devices.

Pricing for the 1224R is $1,195; adding a T-1 module for WAN connectivity is an extra $300. The firewall is included in the $1,195 price, says Heering; the VPN capabilities (IPSec with DES, Triple-DES, or AES encryption), though, costs an extra $695.

On the road map, the company says, is a version of the all-in-one device with IEEE 802.3af-compliant power over Ethernet, expected by the end of the summer. The company also plans to build a version with 24 Gigabit Ethernet ports, which could be available as early as the end of the year. The products currently support priority marking (Layer 2 802.1p and Layer 3 DiffServ), and the company says it is “working on” policy enforcement capabilities.