Netgear Releases PoE-Powered WLAN For SMBs

Netgear has announced a Power Over Ethernet (PoE) solution for small businesses designed to ease installation of WLANs by allowing wireless access points to be installed anywhere, even in locations unreachable by power outlets.

The solution is made up of the ProSafe 8 Port 10/100 Desktop Switch with 4 Port Power-Over-Ethernet, which Netgear calls the industry's first desktop switch with IEEE 802.3af PoE capability; and the ProSafe 802.11g Wireless Access Point, a PoE enabled IEEE 802.11g-compliant access point supporting NETGEAR 108 Mbps mode.

The ProSafe 8 Port Desktop Switch with PoE can power up to four IEEE 802.3af-compliant IP-based devices such as wireless access points, VoIP telephones, surveillance cameras, and card scanners, while maintaining connectivity to standard 10/100 Mbps devices. It can provide power for up to four ProSafe Access Points, so that they access point can be placed high on walls or in ceilings where AC power is difficult to access.

The PoE-powered ProSafe 802.11g Wireless Access Point features SNMP for network management, Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA-Enterprise) and is 802.11i-ready. Fully compatible with IEEE 802.11g, (2.4 GHz), it can also be set for dynamic 108 Mbps 802.11g. It includes a detachable 5dBi antenna, is plenum-rated and supports repeater and bridge modes.

"We're excited to be the first in the industry to deliver an affordable PoE-enabled wireless LAN solution to the growing small business sector," Kevin Allan, Netgear Director of Product Marketing - Business Products said in a statement. "Until now, PoE technology was simply beyond the budget of small companies, effectively excluding them from being able to take advantage of the cost-saving benefits of PoE-compliant devices. The wireless solution created by the combined deployment of the ProSafe Desktop Switch with PoE and ProSafe Access Point provides growing companies with the ability to add a wireless LAN to the existing network infrastructure quickly and easily."