WLAN Platform Targeted at Retail, Industrial/warehousing Applications

( 1 May 2008 )

Bandspeed has released the AirMaestro Virtual Controller Wi-Fi Access Points and WLAN Management Software Console—a complete WLAN platform and an ideal solution for the retail, hospitality and industrial/warehousing industries—which integrate simultaneous, dual-band Wi-Fi access, wireless security and spectral analysis into an automated, cost-effective system that is easy to deploy, manage and use.

AirMaestro brings enterprise-class performance and features to retailers and solves the most common WLAN problems. The low-cost products feature simplified deployment; enable centralized WLAN monitoring and management; offer robust, automated WLAN security; and provide fast roaming between APs for voice. The AirMaestro Virtual Controller Wi-Fi Access Point is the first AP available from Bandspeed that includes three independent 802.11a/b/g wireless radios. The default configuration supports simultaneous access for 802.11a and 802.11b/g clients, while the third radio provides a non-disruptive, dual-band RF sensor for interference detection and rogue AP management.

The third radio can also be configured to perform as an integrated spectrum analyzer. The AirMaestro distributed intelligence architecture allows the APs to collaborate on WLAN deployment and management, with inherent redundancy that eliminates bottlenecks and single points of failure. Meanwhile, the AirMaestro WLAN Management Software offering includes the AirMaestro WLAN monitoring console and the AirMaestro WLAN management console—both allowing for remote and centralized monitoring of multiple WLAN AP clusters via an intuitive graphical user interface, site surveying capabilities, rogue AP notification and classification, and a dual-band spectrum analyzer that allows for remote diagnostics of the RF environment, including interference classification.

The AirMaestro WLAN management console expands on this capability to provide remote and centralized management for WLAN clusters, including expansive views of the network and wizard-driven tools for configuration management.