Enterasys’ R2 offers 54 Mbps performance

BANGALORE: Enterasys Networks has launched a wireless access platform called

R2. The R2 is the first platform in the industry that will offer 54 Megabits per

second (Mbps) performance, a significant increase from the current 11 Mbps IEEE

802.11b wireless standard. This will enable high-bandwidth applications, such as

live video, voice and multimedia, to run over wireless networks.

It combines the mobility of wireless with enhanced performance and a full set

of "wired-like" features for security, management and policy

enforcement. This unique set of features will assist in command and control of

wireless LAN traffic as more advanced applications move on to wireless networks.

This means that corporations, schools, government agencies and other

organizations can deliver high-end applications via wireless networks anytime

and anywhere.

The R2 is unique because while it will initially support 11 Mbps speeds, it

will ultimately support both 11 Mbps and 54 Mbps users simultaneously from one

device. This design provides customers with investment protection in current 11

Mbps technology and an easy migration to higher speed wireless LANs.

With the rapid growth of wireless LAN deployments in several vertical

markets, this option to upgrade and investment protection will give

organizations the flexibility to upgrade at their own pace as well as provide a

superior product life cycle and a lower total cost of ownership.

The R2’s advanced features bring "wired like" Layer 3-4

capabilities to wireless LANs, delivering multi-layer Quality of Service (QoS)

to prioritize network traffic across wireless or hybrid wired/wireless

enterprise networks. In addition, R2 also offers the RoamAbout family’s remote

power feature, which reduces customer costs by eliminating the need to provide

electricity to each access point. And, the R2 offers a 10/100 Fast Ethernet

uplink for connectivity to wired networks, a significant improvement from

previous 10 Mbps uplinks.

The R2 also provides expanded point-to-multi-point wireless capabilities.

This allows "1 to100" point-to-multipoint wireless connections between

access points to create multiple wireless "paths" throughout a network

or among buildings in a campus environment, yielding increased redundancy for

high availability wireless networks.

This feature offers added benefits for environments such as college campuses

or industrial parks that are looking to do "one to many" outdoor

wireless connectivity between buildings.