Wireless modems in laptops — those that would connect to 3G network technologies like EV-DO, W-CDMA, HSDPA and the like — will increase as 3G networks continue to spread, according to ABI Research. They say there’s years left for the market of PC Card add-ons, but more will be embedded as time goes on, enough to equal the 3G PC Card market by 2009. This is going to mean mobile providers giving laptop vendors incentives to build in the technology, since changes won’t be easy (it’s not like swapping out a PC Card), probably in the form of a bounty for each new activation. As of the end of 2005, ABI says Option NV was the number one cellular modem provider. Other vendors in the space include Novatel Wireless, Sierra Wireless and SonyEricsson. (Novatel, not to be outdone by arch-rival Sierra, recently announced an upgrade to its Merlin line of PC Card wireless modems to support EV-DO Revision A, providing a new 3G speed of 3.1Mbps).
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Trango Broadband Wireless says it’s taking the wrap off its high-speed HD Mesh system designed for municipal networks. It comes ready to work with multiple frequency bands, including the 4.9GHz band for public safety use, with micro-cells that can handle multiple functions such as Wi-Fi access plus point-to-multipoint connections. Backbone radios are available in the 4.9, 5.3, 5.4 and 5.8 GHz frequency bands in a weatherized enclosure that can support six Ethernet devices such as cameras or other access points.
Earlier this week, the Wi-Fi Alliance made it official that WPA2 — the consortium’s uber-security for Wi-Fi networks that enhances even the 802.11i specification — is now mandatory on all products sent to the Alliance labs for interoperability testing. 600 products already have WPA2 certification since testing started in September 2004, according to Karen Hanley, Senior Director of Marketing at the Wi-Fi Alliance. WPA2 has two flavors: Personal and Enterprise. The former uses a password and AES encryption for home networks; the latter includes full use of the Extensible Authentication Protocol (EAP) to verify a device or user coming onto the network.
March 13, 2006
The 802.11n draft specification made a minor leap forward today when the IEEE 802.11 Working Group voted during a meeting in Denver, Colorado to official call the current draft version 1.0. Bill McFarland, CTO at chipmaker Atheros, issued a statement saying the 1.0 draft was “changed primarily by editorial adjustments and additional text for clarity and completeness,” which he considers a good sign. From here, it goes to the letter balloting stage where members haggle over the details for several months before it goes for final ratification.
Airspan Networks says its AS.MAX WiMax product line can now support Mobile WiMax, not just fixed, with some products needing only a software upgrade to provide mobile support. The company also announced the 16eUSB, a quad-band (2.3-2.4 GHz, 2.5-2.7 GHz, 3.3-3.7 GHz, and the 4.9-5.4 GHz) USB device also meant to be compatible with Mobile WiMax (or 802.16e), which Airspan CEO Eric Stonestrom says “will allow a user to have access to WiMax networks virtually anywhere in the world.”
March 8, 2006
BelAir Networks is working with VAR WinnCom Technologies to release the BelAir Town Square Wireless Mesh Network bundle. It’s meant as a turnkey for cities that want to slap up some easy and robust wireless service. It includes eight BelAir50c mesh nodes, the BelView management software, a Nomadix AG5000 Metro Gateway, and user billing and authentication software from Airpath, for a total price of $36,900 (with all the cables included).
Not to be outdone, mesh maker Tropos Networks is teaming up with wireless broadband equipment maker Alvarion to co-market a combination of their equipment to municipalities looking to install Wi-Fi. The combo would include Tropos MetroMesh Wi-Fi products with Alvarion BreezeACCESS 4900 (4.9GHz) and BreezeACCESS VL (5GHz) products for long-distance, non-line-of-sight backhaul.
McAfee’s Internet Security Suite will be offered as part of TRENDnet’s line of 802.11g products (including router, AP, PC Card, PCI adapter and USB adapter) to help customers protect against attacks, viruses, spyware and more. Trial subscriptions will be complimentary for a time, and then users can buy the McAfee products at a discount if they want to keep them.
Irish broadband provider Magnet Entertainment will be using technology from Ruckus Wireless to provide wireless digital TV in homes at a lower cost than normal TV (as much as 84 percent lower, according to the companies) because the equipment is customer self-installed with an average install time of seven minutes. It consists of connecting a Ruckus adapter to an Amino set-top box that runs the TV. The adapter talks to an access point running Ruckus software, and auto-configures settings and encryption. This is all instead of wiring a home with Ethernet as Magnet used to do. Magnet offers 66 IPTV channels, as well as VoIP and Internet access.
While Cisco remains perpetually on top of the heap for enterprise WLAN products overall, it lags behind Symbol in one area: WLAN switches and controllers. Symbol, after all, started the area. But Infonetics says that in 2006 Cisco took the lead (after it bought out Airespace), with Symbol and then 3Com bringing up the rear of the top three. In fact, switch/controller shipments went up 154 percent and revenue grew 93 percent from 2004 to 2005, even though they only represent 19 percent of the enterprise equipment sold. Overall equipment sales (including consumer equipment) from year to year went up 10 percent. Infonetics expects the market to reach $3.8 billion in revenue by 2009. Most of the revenue made with WLANs is sold in North America — almost half. The firm also expects WiMax to make big strides, going to $1.6 billion in sales by 2009.
March 7, 2006
WiTopia now has service packages targeting home and business users for its SecureMyWiFi hosted authentication service for wireless networks, using almost any router or access point supporting WPA or WPA2. The new packages are priced at $10 per year for homes (plus $20 activation), or $99 per year for businesses with 100 or fewer employees (plus $99 activation). The service works on Windows, Mac and Linux.
Netgear says the coming CeBIT show in Hannover will include the debut of a new design for its wireless gear — hardware that will come later this year with support for the 802.11n draft specification that was agreed upon (in principle) in January by the IEEE. The company says the new look will optimize the speed and range, delivering data rates of 600Mbps.
Sputnik is offering a new hosted service called Sputnik Express to let small business owners with just a single location offer free Wi-Fi to customers. They can create branded welcome pages that include information about the business using data from Google and Yahoo!, as well as the PlaceSite Wi-Fi Community software for making an online community just for their patrons. Businesses will have to buy Sputnik-powered access points (though some Linksys routers can get the Sputnik-flavored firmware for free). Sputnik is also partnering with smartBridges, so the Sputnik Control Center software will work with smartbridges’ airPoint Nexus PRO hardware so wireless broadband providers can set options for users.
ARC Wireless Solutions says the release of a 2.4GHz Directional Diversity Antenna marks the launch of a new ARC Parity Antenna line of products. The initial ARC Parity unit is a 6.5 dBi gain unit designed to reduce multipath interference issues. No price is listed, but it will eventually be for sale at antennas.com.
