Cisco Systems has introduced a lineup of products during
its wireless Lan advanced technology event in San
Jose.
Included on the list were Cisco’s Aironet 1200 and 1100 series
of Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11g
Access Point (AP) products.
The devices provide a maximum data rate of 54MBbps and were
designed to be backward compatible with Cisco Aironet, Cisco
Compatible 802.11b clients and the Cisco Wireless IP Phone
7920.
The company is providing a migration path for the Cisco Aironet
1200 and 1100 series 802.11b APs with 802.11g radio upgradeable
modules.
Larry Birenbaum, senior vice-president of the Ethernet access
technology group at Cisco, said the company is offering a software
upgrade after ratification of the IEEE 802.11i standard in 2004 for
advanced Encryption standard (AES), which is already supported in
the hardware and will be enabled for all Cisco Aironet 802.11g
products next year.
Cisco’s Aironet 1100 series is priced at $599 and its Cisco
Aironet 1200 series is priced at $899. Both are expected to ship
this month.
Also on the agenda at Wednesday’s conference, Cisco, along with
independent research firm NOP World Technology, released a report
highlighting the development of Wlan adoption.
The report, entitled 2003 Wireless Lan Benefits Study, indicated
that since the report in 2001, there have been significant
productivity growth and greater financial gains observed by
organisations that have deployed a larger number of Wlans.
The study found that end users noticed a 27% increase in
productivity and, on average, they were connected to the network
three and a half hours more per day, up from the one and
three-quarter hour increase observed in 2001.
The 2003 study also indicated that growth in Wlan deployment is
also increasing in key hotspot locations including airport lounges,
coffee shops and hotels.
Lindsay Bruce writes for
ITWorldCanada.com