At this week's Interop Las Vegas 2013 (May 6-10), Motorola Solutions, Inc. (NYSE: MSI) launched a series of new indoor- and outdoor-rated 802.11ac access points (APs). Delivering faster speeds per the new 802.11ac Wi-Fi specifications, Motorola says the new APs are designed to help alleviate bandwidth challenges faced by both enterprises and governments when users connect to Wi-Fi networks and access high-bandwidth applications such as mobile video and streaming media applications.
“It’s now very clear that 802.11ac is the next-generation enterprise and government WLAN technology," asserts Craig Mathias, principal at Farpoint Group, an advisory firm specializing in wireless and mobile technologies, products, services, and systems. "And with this announcement, Motorola Solutions is adding system features that are well-served by the enhanced capacity of 802.11ac. Demanding retail and public safety environments, for example, are about to see a big upgrade in capability.”
See: 802.11ac Wi-Fi: Time for reality check?
The complete product series includes the Motorola AP 8232, AP 8222 and AP 8263, offering flexible options for a wide variety of deployment scenarios. The APs also enable integrated location and security sensing for mobile commerce applications to help connect shoppers in retail stores and hotel guests both indoors and outdoors. For government workers, notes the company, these can provide data-rich content and multimedia sharing across the government enterprise with high-speed 802.11ac. These APs are also backward compatible with previous 802.11 standards and will support existing clients, preventing the need to create a new infrastructure.
As indoor APs, the modular AP 8232 has an expandable design to support plug-in applications such as a pan-tilt-zoom video camera, WAN back-haul as well as dedicated environmental, location and physical security sensors. The AP 8222 offers a fixed configuration with an internal antenna and a dual radio for customers who want an aesthetically pleasing fixture on the wall or ceiling. As an AP for ruggedized, outdoor environments, the AP 8263 offers a tri-radio, fixed configuration for ruggedized and outdoor deployments and supports integrated, wireless intrusion prevention system (WIPS) and location sensing out of the box with a third radio module.
Increased use of guest Wi-Fi is requiring retailers and hotels to upgrade WAN links adding monthly bandwidth costs and requiring time to provision the new circuits, contends the company. In addition to the new products, a new software upgrade to Motorola's WiNG 5 technology delivers mobile applications faster with video acceleration to improve mobile video streaming experience by eliminating legacy WAN bandwidth limitations.
More: Why 802.11ac Wi-Fi throughput may still be insufficient
The upgrade to WiNG 5 now provides real-time content caching, improving web browsing and mobile app experiences for shoppers and guests without requiring a major upgrade to the WAN infrastructure. With the latest software upgrade, WiNG 5.5 simplifies IT deployments by extending a scalable AP management solution from a centralized network operating center with a single unified management portal for enterprise branch offices, says the company.
“The demands on network bandwidth are on the rise, and our end-to-end solution for the 802.11ac standard, including new APs and WiNG 5.5 upgrade, increase capacity in the Wi-Fi network for both enterprise and government," states Imran Akbar, vice president and general manager, Enterprise Networks & Communications, Motorola Solutions. "In addition, the application acceleration engine with content caching helps accelerate application performance without requiring significant increases in WAN bandwidth.”
Motorola also offers services to assist with optimal WLAN architecture and network placement design, as well as integration to help ensure all AP models work efficiently.
View/Download:Motorola's AP 8232 Specifications Sheet