Farpoint Group, the Massachusetts based leading independent analyst firm specializing in mobile technologies, validated the recently announced HiPath Wireless Access Points (APs) by Siemens (News - Alert) Communications, Inc. (News - Alert) for its functionality and compliancy.
The Access Points introduced by Siemens were aimed at addressing the market need for power-hungry, dual-radio 802.11n APs that are compliant with the wattage limitations of the industry-standard 802.3af Power-over-Ethernet (PoE). Siemens also received the Wi-Fi
CERTIFIED seal of approval for 802.11n draft 2.0 from the Wi-Fi Alliance (News - Alert) for its 802.11n HiPath Wireless AP. The innovative offering from Siemens passed rigorous industry tests that validated its interoperability as well as backward compatibility with earlier versions of Wi-Fi devices.
"We were skeptical of Siemens' claim that .3af power would be sufficient for dual-radio, 3x3 MIMO
operation," said Craig Mathias, a Principal with Farpoint Group and author of its published Technical Note in a press release. "It's ferociously difficult from an engineering standpoint, so we jumped at the chance to verify Siemens' claims."
"The test results prove that Siemens has clearly achieved the feat of providing full dual-radio 3x3 MIMO 802.11n while being powered by 802.3af PoE," Mathias said. "This accomplishment is clearly very difficult, and we expect Siemens to gain some real market advantage from this for some time."
Siemen’s wireless solution is much more economical and easier to install than other products currently available in the market. They can be easily plugged into PoE-enabled Ethernet
ports without the need for additional Ethernet cables or new expensive hardware.
"We chose Siemens' HiPath Wireless 802.11n solution because it is ready to deploy now, offers great advantages in how it deals with the PoE issue, and is easy to install," said Sam Brown, Director of IT Services for the Georgia World Congress Center, a 3.9 million square foot conference, entertainment, and sports venue. "After upgrading the software on our HiPath Controller and doing a few quick configuration changes, all we had to do was unplug our old HiPath Wireless Access Points and plug in the new ones. We were even able to use the same mounting bracket. In all, it took us less than 30 minutes to light up our trial area with 802.11n."
"While 802.11n delivers the higher speed and improved range customers want, the cost and complexity of enabling an existing network to handle 802.11n has held many enterprises back," said Luc Roy, Vice President of Enterprise Mobility for Siemens. "HiPath Wireless makes it possible to easily deploy reliable, high-speed 802.11n with minimal changes to your existing network. And with the Wi-Fi Alliance certification, users can be assured of Siemens' further commitment to providing best-of-breed solutions that add true value to the enterprise."
Siemen’s innovative wireless offering would be available commercially in March 2008 and the Access Points would be priced at about $1,300 while upgrades to the Wireless Convergence (News - Alert) software would begin at around $349. The HiPath Wireless Manager HiGuard upgrades would however be offered free of charge. More details on the Farpoint group’s assessment can be obtained at
http://www.siemens.com/us/open/802.11n/report
Radhika Raghunath is a contributing editor for TMCnet. To see more of her articles, please visit her columnist page.
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