Enterprise wireless vendor Aruba Networks, today announced a new generation of Controllers and 802.11n Access Points. The new products make it possible to converge 802.11n wireless LANs, firewall-enforced user access control, cellular-to-Wi-Fi integration, and secure remote access into a single unified mobile network.
An enterprise wireless local area network infrastructure typically consists of two products; the access point and a controller, which handles mobility tasks. The controller assigns or preserves IP addresses for a moving client and maintaining security credentials and authorizations.
Aruba’s new dual-radio AP-124 and AP-125 802.11n Access Points are based on 2nd generation RF chips and high performance MIPS CPUs with hardware-accelerated cryptographic processing. Featuring 3×3 Multiple-In Multiple-Out (MIMO) operation, a field-upgradeable design, and dynamic frequency selection (DFS) support, the new access points can be used for wireless access, intrusion detection monitoring, traffic analysis, secure enterprise mesh, or remote access point applications.
They will operate in 3×3 MIMO mode using existing 802.3af PoE infrastructure over a single Ethernet cable. A local 5VDC power source is provided for non-PoE applications.
Carnegie Mellon University will be an early adopter of the AP-124 and AP-125 Access Points and new Multi-Service Mobility Controllers. Dan McCarriar, Assistant Director of Network Services at Carnegie Mellon said, “802.11n will be a true inflection point, offering us the ability to deliver on a long-time vision: a campus wireless network that is not just an adjunct to the wired network, but a potential replacement for most applications.”
Aruba is well known for its centralized management via controllers. Aruba’s new A-3000 Controller family provide up to 8Gbps throughput and support up to 2048 users, 128 local access points, and 512 remote access points. The MMC-3200 is designed for the small/branch offices, while the MMC-3400 and MMC-3600 are designed for medium/large enterprise or dense office deployments.
Aruba’s new “N” access points can also be used with new, or retrofitted to existing, A-5000 and A-6000 Controllers. A field-re-programmable Aruba Mobility Controller chip boosts performance and enables functionality to be modified in the field. With a full complement of four hot-swappable modules, an A-6000 Multi-Service Mobility Controller offers 80Gbps throughput and supports up to 32,768 users, 2048 local access points, and 8,192 remote access points.
Aruba says remote access points offer a simple means of securely connecting remote users and sites without having to manage clients, making them ideally suited for telecommuter and business-continuity applications.
Aruba breezed through Network World’s public Wi-Fi test, the largest ever conducted. Aruba, the only participating vendor, achieved this feat with the use of dynamic radio frequency management and point coordination function, a little-implemented mechanism in the 802.11 standard. The Aruba combination also aced their voice-over-Wi-Fi tests. Network Computing also tested Cisco and Meru “G” gear.
Xirrus announced today public access to the test plans and results of its 802.11n beta program scheduled to launch this quarter. The program – announced last week at Interop New York – focuses on comprehensive testing of Xirrus’ 802.11n Wi-Fi Array, which Xirrus claims to be the highest performing 802.11n platform in the industry. Xirrus puts four, eight or 16 radios in a single device. Beta customers will assist in the execution of performance-related testing of Xirrus’ 802.11n Draft 2.0 Wi-Fi Arrays.
Major vendors, such as Cisco, Meru Networks, and Trapeze Networks, are now shipping enterprise-grade MIMO gear. The Farpoint Group predicts a massive shift to 802.11n will materialize over the next year, with complete dominance of the market by this technology by early 2009. 
Director of global product marketing for iPass, Piero De Paoli, says 802.11n has made no impact yet on the hotspot market. “We are not getting companies asking when we will support it,” De Paoli told ZDNet. “Hotspot providers are all using 802.11g. We think it’s a lot of hype.”
But municipal nets can benefit from “N”, says Novarum, a municipal wireless tester, who shows that 802.11n delivers better range.
Small Net Builder has the latest news and reviews for consumers.
Ars Technica has a 802.11n router roundup, testing a Linksys WRT350N gigabit router, a Netgear RangeMax Next, a D-Link Xtreme N gigabit router, and the Apple AirPort Extreme Gigabit 802.11n router.
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