Meru Mixes WLAN Security and QoS

Meru Networks introduced new wireless LAN software this week that pulls double duty by helping to secure wireless traffic while also optimizing mobile application performance.

Meru's latest announcement would seem to suggest that this is an expansion of their wireless IDS/IPS services, as encapsulated in their AirShield 1.0 announcement a year ago. But this is more about traffic security than anything else. Their per-user security policies approach a level of granularity that Aruba has had for several years now, and their per-application support claims to be able to identify the type of application even within an encrypted IPSec tunnel. The rate-limiting feature is an apparent nod toward their installed base of educational users, but their location support is a unique feature that controls access to network services based on the user's location. With the long list of NAC partners the integration can't be that deep, but Meru is making all the right moves by aligning with the major players. Although Cisco is not listed as an official NAC partner, Meru states that they are compatible. Frank Bulk NWC Contributing Editor

AirShield Security Suite 2.0, due to ship at the end of the month, blocks threats from rogue devices while ensuring time-sensitive applications such as voice and video traffic get an adequate level of service, Meru said.

The vendor also announced new partnerships with network access control vendors including Juniper Networks, Lockdown Networks, Microsoft, and Vernier Networks to further help enterprises secure their WLAN deployments.

Unlike other wireless security solutions that turn off RF scanning to allow bandwidth-intensive real-time traffic to cross the network unimpeded, AirShield Security Suite 2.0 lets the traffic through while continuing to look for radio frequency (RF) interference from rogue devices, Meru said.