Cisco Adds Central WLAN Management To Ethernet Switch

Cisco Wednesday announced a new module for its Catalyst 6500 Ethernet switch that performs many of the functions of wireless switches offered by startups such as Aruba Wireless Networks and Airespace.

The module, dubbed the Wireless LAN Services Module, was hailed by the company in a Web conference as the first enterprise-class integrated wireless-Ethernet switch.

"It allows seamless management of what otherwise would be two separate domains, said Larry Birenbaum, senior vice president of Cisco's Ethernet access group. "It is the capstone of our SWAN announcement a year ago."

That integration differentiates its approach, based on its Structured Wireless Aware Network (SWAN) vision, from that of wireless switches provided by other vendors, Birenbaum said.

Cisco also unveiled a new version of its Wireless LAN Solution Engine (WLSE) to support the module. The new version adds the ability to not just detect rogue access points but also to suppress them. It also provides out-of-the-box, centralized access point deployment.The Cisco executives acknowledged that the new system will only work Cisco's Aironet access points (APs) and that the company would not offer so-called thin access points, which have no built-in intelligence. Cisco executives said that the access points in its new system need built-in intelligence for tasks such as authenticating users at the edge of the network instead of centrally and to help detect rogue access points.

One analyst said that the insistence on use of its own APs in this system was not surprising.

"They're Cisco and they're not about interoperability," said Phil Solis, a senior analyst for ABI Research.

Cisco has been under fire from startup wireless switch operators and had not provided similar centralized wireless network functionality until Wednesday's announcement. The wireless switch vendors lately have talked about how their products are needed for voice-over-WLAN (VoWLAN) deployments because they speed hand-offs between access points as users roam. However, Cisco executives discounted that notion.

"We're looking at a 50 millisecond hand-off," said Douglas Gourlay, marketing manager for the Catalyst 6500 group. "That's not disruptive. You wouldn't hear a blip."The module will be priced at $18,000 for up to 150 access points and $8,000 for an additional 150 access points. The company said it is taking orders now and will deliver the module in June or July.