Eric Griffith

Symbol Technologies, the first vendor to market a wireless LAN switch and (according to Synergy Research Group) the most successful in the market thus far, has introduced a new product designed for branch offices that don’t need coverage for an extensive number of employees. The WS 2000 Wireless Switch is a peer to the existing […]

It has been a busy week for Santa Clara, Calif.-based Azaire Networks. The company was formed only last summer but is already launching partnerships to help bring wireless LAN functionality to other types of network providers. Earlier this week it announced a deal with Kapsch CarrierCom. The Vienna, Austria system integrator provides equipment for network […]

IEEE 802.1X, the authentication scheme used by many enterprise-class wireless (and wired) networks, uses various types of Extensible Authentication Protocol (EAP) to relay port access requests between clients, switches, access points and RADIUS servers. One of the most popular EAP types has been Lightweight EAP, or LEAP, created by Cisco Systems to bring mutual authentication […]

Atheros Communications, one of the leading makers of chipsets for Wi-Fi products, on Thursday made its initial public offering official. The company will trade on the NASDAQ under the symbol “ATHR” . Atheros took initial steps toward this move in December, filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission to offer $100 million of common stock. […]

Here’s a tale we’re growing used to telling every few months: Last quarter (the 4th quarter of 2003, containing the all-important holiday season) was the best ever for the wireless LAN industry in terms of sales and units shipped. According to Aaron Vance, senior analyst at Synergy Research Group of Scottsdale, Ariz., sales in the […]

While enforcement of network security polices is growing to be the norm on enterprise networks, even on wireless LANs, it hasn’t been the case for remote and mobile workers. That might be about to change. Hotspot aggregator GRIC Communications , which makes deals with network providers to get access for its corporate customers, is now […]

Proxim of Sunnyvale, Calif., is announcing a new WLAN switch. The ORiNOCO Switching System is designed, according to Lynn Lucas, director of product marketing at Proxim, to support voice over IP (VoIP), or in this case specifically VoWLAN. This is also the first step in the solution promised by Proxim, Avaya , and Motorola in […]

While the promise of a mesh network — being self-configuring and self-healing and all the self-sufficiency that goes with that — is great, they don’t lead themselves to a secure connection beyond the mesh. That is from the client to the access points the users connect to. FireTide, a Hawaii-based company that makes mesh-infrastructure products […]

Wireless access in hotels might seem like old news to some. Even many guest rooms are going Wi-Fi in addition to public areas like lobbies and restaurants. And for a select few guests, that high-speed Internet access (HSIA) is even free when the hotel sees it as a value-added amenity along the lines of the […]

In an industry first, home broadband users will soon be getting direct marketing for Wi-Fi hotspots. T-Mobile, the mobile arm of Deutsche Telecom , is teaming up with Comcast in a marketing and promotions deal. The 5 million subscribers of cable-modem service provider Comcast will be subject to a marketing campaign extolling the virtues of […]

Don’t let the name fool you. Full Mesh Networks of Reston, Va., which is launching today after a few months of stealth mode, isn’t a company that builds mesh networks (as in the self-healing, self-configuring wireless nets we’ve come to know). They just thought the name sounded good. Instead, the company is targeting one type […]

As the enterprises wireless LAN (WLAN) market continues to heat up in 2004, expect innovations from the crowd that hasn’t gone the Wi-Fi switch route. Case in point: Colubris Networks of Waltham, Mass. Known as a provider of WLAN equipment for businesses and hotspots, the company hopes to hold its position by introducing new products […]