Cisco unveils 802.11n wireless access point

Cisco has launched its first enterprise-level foray into the 802.11n space by announcing a new wireless access point that will be available from next month.

While the networking giant has been dabbling with the standard in some of its products for home users, the arrival of its latest offering - the Aironet 1250 - signals that the company now feels draft 2.0 of it is ready for business use.

The new offering has a fivefold increase in throughput and multiple-in, multiple-out (MIMO) technology to ensure reliable coverage and, by launching the product now, businesses that want to take advantage of the increased bandwidth associated with 802.11n can do so, without suffering the increased power consumption historically associated with higher data rates, according to Cisco spokesman Richard Moir.

"More and more people are demanding wireless and in a ubiquitous format. It's no longer wireless just in an office, it's wireless in any office you walk into and public areas to. We're much more used to it now so when it's not working there's much more an impact," he said.

"[The 802.11n product] gives business the opportunity to take advantage of all the things they've wanted to do. There are absolutely business drivers for doing this today. We're hoping that if there are any changes [to the standard] they will be software only. But, with the 1250 you don't have to take the access point off the wall and get it retro-fitted. You can just take out the module that's draft 2.0 compliant and put in the new module. We've tried to safeguard users as much as we can versus holding off potentially another year to make this leap forward."

The new access point, which will cost $1,299 and be available from next month, has taken part in the Wi-Fi Alliance's 802.11n draft 2.0 test bed, meaning it will serve as an industry interoperability benchmark, according to Cisco. It has also worked with Intel to ensure chipset compatibility.

"Ensuring compatibility and performance are foremost in the adoption of next-generation wireless technologies," said Randy Nickel, director of wireless marketing, Intel mobile platforms group. "Cisco and Intel have worked together closely to ensure that adoption of 802.11n technologies is as seamless as possible for enterprise customers."

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