D-Link To Develop Enterprise Lightweight AP

D-Link, a vendor best known for its Wi-Fi equipment aimed at the home and small businesses, indicated Wednesday that it will try to break into the enterprise wireless market.

Specifically, the company said in a statement that it will work with Airespace to co-develop an enterprise-class lightweight access point (LAP) that works in conjunction with wireless switches, such as those sold by Airespace, that support the Lightweight Access Point Protocol (LWAPP).

Wireless switches provide centralized intelligence for enterprise WLANs, which enables use of so-called lightweight APs, such as the one D-Link said it will develop. Lightweight APs have fewer functions than regular APs. LWAPP is a pending protocol proposed by Airespace, among other vendors, for managing lightweight APs and other WLAN resources.

The market-leading enterprise wireless vendor, Cisco Systems, has yet to release a wireless switch or a lightweight access point.

D-Link provided no information about when the LAP will be available.