Wireless Vendors Bring Out The Gear At Wi-Fi Planet

Wireless in the workplace got a boost Tuesday as the Wi-Fi Planet Conference & Expo Fall 2003 opened in San Jose, Calif.

The trade show runs through Friday with more than 115 vendors -- including wireless arena top players such as Intel and 3Com -- are strutting new products and announcing future plans to push Wi-Fi.

Among the vendors touting wares at Wi-Fi Planet:

Red-M used Wi-Fi Planet to debut its flagship wireless management product, Red-Vision. Through its single console, said Red-M, enterprise IT staff can manage their company's wireless infrastructure and integrate with intrusion detection systems deployed to protect that network. Red-Vision allows users to detect rogue devices and intruders on the WLAN, view which devices are connected to access points, and configure and control a mixed-vendor wireless environment.

Motia, meanwhile, launched Javelin, a next-generation wireless antenna that promises to extend the range of wireless networks by up to four times. The multi-element Javelin antenna improves reception by combining the signals received by each element, said Motia executives, then adjusting the antenna's characteristics to better account for on-the-move users. Javelin is 802.11b/g compliant, reduces dead spots, suppresses interfering signals, and when used on both ends of the link, can boost range up to four times the typical.Bluesocket, NETGEAR, and Propagate Networks joined forces at Wi-Fi Planet to announce a collaborative effort in the enterprise wireless arena. The out-of-box solution will use NETGEAR's ProSafe line of access points equipped with Propagate's AutoCell self-organizing radio environment, and managed by Bluesocket's Wireless Gateways to handle and secure devices and hotspots. The new partners claim that their combined solution will result in cost savings of up to 70 percent over a typical enterprise WLAN in installation and maintenance.

WildPackets released the newest version of its AiroPeek NX Expert Distributed WLAN Analysis Solution at the conference. Now equipped with a RFGrabber Probe that supports 802.11g -- as well as the previously-supported 802.11a/b -- WildPackets' analyzer surveys wireless sites, troubleshoots client devices, and assesses the WLAN's security.

Wireless service provider iPass announced iPass Wireless LAN Roaming, a new service that promises to let IT administrators integrate their own company's internal WLAN with not only the iPass global network of more than 20,000 hotspots, but also employees' own broadband and Wi-Fi networks used in their homes. This combined ¼ber-network can, said iPass, be managed centrally from within the enterprise, and features auto-detection of approved access points and auto-configuration of the end-user's wireless device or card. The new service is expected to go live in the first quarter of 2004.

On the security side of wireless, Network Chemistry launched its Wireless Intrusion Protection System at the show. The system continuously monitors the WLAN for attacks from outside as well as internal policy violations by users within the domain, said the company. Administrators can define custom sets of signature rules for policy violations and attacks, the system's sensors are 802.11a/b/g-compliant, and it supports Power-over-Ethernet (PoE) so that new sensors can be placed where external power is not available.

And wireless security vendor Fortress Technologies announced it had struck a joint marketing and development deal with wireless developer Airespace that will integrate Fortress' AirFortress wireless security manager with Airespace's Wireless Enterprise Platform. The combination, said Fortress, will give enterprise and government customers FIPS 140-validated encryption and authentication to secure against breaches and other threats. The pair will also work together to target specific markets, such as government, public safety, and financial services.