Schaumburg, Ill.-based U.S. Robotics on Tuesday announced its new line of 22
Mbps wireless networking products would be backwards compatible with the
emerging 802.11b “Wi-Fi” standard.
The company, which builds and markets modems and wireless network access
hubs for businesses and consumers, said the newest wireless products was
based on the Texas Instruments ACX100 802.11 technology.
In a statement, U.S Robotics said the ACX100 technology would allow its
products to be backwards compatible with all current 802.11b 11 Mbps devices
and have the fastest wireless speed available in a 2.4-gigahertz radio
spectrum.
U.S Robotics said its new 22 Mbps suite of products — the Wireless Access
PC Card, the Wireless Access PCI Adapter and the Wireless Access Point —
would allow the networking of multiple PCs without the hassle of expanding
an existing 802.11b wireless local area network (LAN) or creating a new
wireless LAN capable of up to 22 Mbps wireless speeds.
“Additional features include a bridging function to support
building-to-building roaming and networking, a 256-bit WEP encryption and
MAC address authentication for security and privacy and up to 70 percent
better area coverage than conventional 11 Mbps wireless products,” U.S
Robotics said.
The U.S. Robotics 22 Mbps Wireless Access Point, which carries a retail
price of $199.99, allows users to share files, Web access and peripherals
with multiple users.
When combined with the Wireless Access PC Card (retail $99.99) and the
Wireless Access PCI Adapter Card (retail $119.99), U.S Robotics said the
access point would allow data rates up to 22 Mbps, twice the speed of
existing WLAN networks.