A Branch Office WLAN Switch from Symbol. Brilliant!

But the solutions provided by many of the mainstream WLAN vendors don'treally fit. Most branch offices require more than a single AP (accesspoint) to provide full coverage. Deploying smart APs like those offeredby Cisco, Proxim and 3Com not only entails significant effort, it alsorequires additional products, including Ethernet switches, routers,firewalls and VPN devices, to meet non-wireless network needs. Thesituation is even worse when you are dealing with the new switch vendorslike Airespace, Aruba and Trapeze, which start from the assumption thatswitches interface with APs over a Layer-2 Ethernet infrastructure.Although all these vendors are beginning to address branch-office needs,none of them excels in that market.

Symbol's new WS-2000 seems well positioned to meet branch-office needsas well as those of many small and medium enterprises. A single switchprovides support for WLANs, wired Ethernet LANs and WAN connectivity. Upto four low-cost, Symbol multi-band thin wireless "access ports" can beattached to the WS-2000 with full PoE (power over Ethernet) support. Thesystem includes two additional Fast Ethernet ports (for attachment oflocal servers or existing Ethernet network segments), a WAN Ethernetport (for connection to Frame Relay, DSL or cable modem) and a uniqueFlash storage slot that can be used to stage applications or data fordeployment to mobile devices. The unit also provides NAT routing andstateful inspection firewall capabilities, which most branch officesrequire.

The WS-2000 also supports a range of security and managementcapabilities. The system is SNMP manageable, clearly a requirement fororganizations with lots of branch locations. Plus, you get support forkey IEEE security protocols, including 802.1x/EAP, WPA and 802.11i,along with Symbol's Kerberos and Web-authentication capabilities. Theonly significant deficiency we could identify is a lack of integratedVPN support, which Symbol indicated would be delivered in a futurerelease.

We're anxious to get our hands on one of these systems. Now billingitself as "The Enterprise Mobility Company," it's clear Symbol remainscommitted to enhancing its position as the number-two company afterCisco in enterprise WLAN market share. Now we're looking forward to anext-generation headquarters WLAN switch that will better positionSymbol as a total system provider.

-- Dave Molta, [email protected]Post a comment or question on this story.