Linksys introduces 802.11n WLAN products

Stuart Corner
Tuesday, 30 January 2007 10:34

Business IT - Technology

Cisco subsidiary, Linksys, has introduced its first products conforming to the new high speed 802.11n wireless LAN standard. They come with a few bells and whistles and are immediately available in Australia.

Designed for SOHOs and SMEs, the initial range comprises the Wireless-N Access Point (WAP4400N), Wireless-N Gigabit Security Router with VPN (WRVS4400N) and Wireless-N CardBus Adapter (WPC4400N).

The routers supports gigabit ethernet on all four ports. Linksys has incorporated an internally developed wireless client monitoring application on the PC Card and access point. This application provides rogue AP and client detection on the network so users are alerted when unauthorised clients or access points show up on their network. The AP and PC Cards also work as wireless monitoring probes to help increase client coverage and enable seamless roaming from AP to AP. The access point also supports power over ethernet, so does not require a separate power point in order to operate.

According to Linksys, "This client utility could also replace expensive management servers, providing reports on channel usage SSIDs in use and activity logs."

The new products conform to the 802.11n draft spec. This means that they must provide both mixed mode operation and backward compatibility with 802.11g and 802.11b. Mixed mode operation requires that, unlike previous proprietary networking technologies, 802.11n networks must maintain optimum speeds when operating with legacy products. There has been a deal of controversy around suggestions that many draft 802.11n products are unable to do this.

The WAP4400N access point, WRVS4400N router and WPC4400N card adaptor are available through Ingram Micro, Multimedia Technology, Express Data and LAN Systems. Recommended retail prices are, respectively $359.95, $479.95 and $249.95 respectively.