Vendors Unveil Smarter Access Points

Three vendors unveiled new access points (AP) technology Tuesday that they claim will increase the intelligence, security and manageability of wireless LANs.

D-Link said in a statement that its new AirPremier DWL-2210AP enables simplified and even automated configuration. Specifically, the company said in a statement that the AP, which it is aiming at small and medium-sized businesses, can be clustered as a single system to which configuration and administration information can be distributed with a single command.

The company said the access points support features such as load balancing, virtual LANs and Quality of Service. The APs are self-adapting in that they support both self-monitoring and self-healing, according to the company. The AP also supports Power over Ethernet (PoE), 802.1x authentication and AES encryption, the company said.

The access point is available now for $349.99.

Separately, chipmaker Engim and WLAN management and security vendor AirMagnet announced an AP aimed at original equipment vendors that the companies claim is the first to include an integrated security sensor and radio monitoring of all channels and bands.The vendors said that their solution will enable manufacturers to develop highly-flexible APs with advanced monitoring and management capabilities at a low cost. The companies did not say whether any AP vendors have signed on to use jointly-created solution.