Colubris Networks, the leading global provider of intelligent wireless LANs (WLANs) for enterprises and service providers, today announced the industry’s first intelligent enterprise-class 802.11n access point. The Colubris MultiService Access Point 625 (MAP-625) is part of the 802.11n-ready Colubris Intelligent Mobility Solution, which gives organizations the only centrally managed WLAN networking solution to enable migration from legacy standards to 802.11n without disruptive upgrades, architectural changes or additional peripheral equipment. Using dual radios, the MAP-625 provides 802.11n clients with more than four times the performance of current generation WLANs, while simultaneously supporting legacy 802.11a/b/g devices at their full speeds.
IEEE 802.11n, a new WLAN standard expected to be ratified early next year, promises to operate at speeds four to eight times faster than current wireless standards and at double the range of today’s 802.11a/b/g technologies. With the launch of the MAP-625, Colubris becomes the only company to provide smooth and incremental migration to an 802.11n network. The Colubris Intelligent Mobility Solution combines intelligent access points at the network edge – for highly scalable distributed traffic forwarding and full performance – with centralized control and management for consistent services and enterprise-wide mobility. This advanced architecture is already equipped to deliver the next generation WLAN performance levels of 802.11n. Deploying 802.11n is as simple as adding a MAP-625, regardless of whether the customer purchased its network in the past or buys one today.
“By capitalizing on its distributed data forwarding WLAN architecture, Colubris provides its enterprise customers a simple migration path to 802.11n, requiring only the addition of new access points that feature dual radios to support both 802.11n and legacy a/b/g client devices for full coverage without sacrificing n-speeds,” said Michael Brandenburg, Enterprise Network Systems Analyst, Current Analysis.
The first product in Colubris’ new 600 Series product family, the MAP-625 features the company’s unique Always-n technology, allowing it to simultaneously support 802.11a/b/g client devices while delivering up to 300 Mbps performance to 802.11n clients. The MAP-625 eliminates enterprises’ concerns about protocol fall-back – when 802.11n network performance falls short of the promised maximum speeds due to the presence of 802.11a/b/g devices.
“Many organizations don’t realize that centralized WLAN switch architectures simply won’t scale to 802.11n speeds. They will face hidden costs and forklift upgrades when they want to add 802.11n support to their WLANs,” said Rob Scott, president and CEO of Colubris. “These upgrades will frustrate enterprises that expect true 802.11n speeds. Conversely, the investment protection built into the Colubris Intelligent Mobility Solution enables our customers to realize the full performance benefits of 802.11n by simply plugging in a dual-radio MAP-625. Our solution is 802.11n-ready, providing smooth, efficient migration with no disruption to the customer’s wired network.”
Innovative Design Delivers Optimal Performance
The MAP-625’s dual-radio design features an 802.11n radio with 3×3 MIMO (multiple input, multiple output) technology and an 802.11a/b/g radio. Like all 600 Series products, the MAP-625 features Colubris’ innovative new antenna design with antennae integrated on two hinged wings. This design provides flexibility to operate the access point in an open position as an omni-directional antenna or in a closed position as a directional patch antenna with 5 dBi gain. The MAP-625 is 802.11n Draft 2 compatible and software upgradeable for investment protection. Its gigabit Ethernet port ensures optimal delivery and performance of customers’ critical business applications and support for Colubris Local Mesh Protocol provides a convenient solution for delivering high performance WLAN coverage in areas where Ethernet cable is not available. The MAP-625 is priced at $999.
With this unique design, the MAP-625 provides several benefits to enterprises:
-Increased capacity: 100 Mbps or more of throughput per access point enables the WLAN to service areas of high client density such as classrooms and meeting facilities, backhaul more traffic using Colubris Local Mesh Protocol and deliver all the applications offered by a wired LAN;
-Support for multiple applications: Allows quick and widespread adoption of high-bandwidth, latency-sensitive business applications, such as video surveillance, streaming media and voice-over-IP (VoIP);
-Investment protection: Always-n technology supports existing 802.11a/b/g devices, protecting an organization’s existing wireless network investments; and
-Cost savings: Expanded wireless coverage minimizes the need for additional access points and associated cabling.
Colubris’ 600 Series family is part of the award-winning Colubris Intelligent Mobility Solution, which combines intelligence at the network core for centralized management and control, with intelligent access points at the edge for optimized performance, security and QoS. The Colubris MultiService Controller (MSC) provides central configuration and control for Colubris MAPs, simplifying deployment and ongoing management of the wireless network. Distributed traffic forwarding, QoS and security policy enforcement allow traffic to flow directly from source to destination, resulting in optimal performance for even the most demanding VoWLAN and real-time applications. Competing architectures based on a central switch and thin APs require all traffic to take a detour to a central controller, introducing delays and creating a performance bottleneck that restricts 802.11n migration.
