Bluesocket announced new software earlier this week for its BlueSecure Controller family of products.
Version 6.1 runs on the latest BlueSecure products announced last February, as well as older controllers. Instead of having different software for high-end and low-end, “we’re migrating them all to the high-end platform,” says Mike Braatz, vice president of marketing, “so customers have more features as smaller wireless LANs expand.”
A new edge-to-edge architecture will allow the BlueSecures to support both thin and fat access points (APs) simultaneously. “Controllers can run them thin where needed and fat where needed,” says Braatz, using the example of voice traffic that might not want to go all the way to the controller (fat AP), but security authentication traffic that does (thin AP).
“When we got into the AP business a couple of years ago, the trend was toward completely thin APs, but we never went all the way — we took the ‘fit’ AP model,” says Braatz.
All the current Bluesocket APs will run on the new 6.1 software, which also includes guest and hotspot access supporting customized accounts, clientless scanning of the network, an improved intrusion detection system (IDS), roaming not only across Bluesocket APs but also third-party APs, and new features of the BlueView Management System.
BlueSecure controllers include the BSC-7200 for up to 8,000 users on 300 APs, and the BSC-600 for 64 users on 8 APs; they were announced earlier this year, and will be on sale this summer.
While at Interop this week, Bluesocket also announced a partnership with cabling system company Siemon to develop a wireless/wired offering for customers.