Aruba, a Hewlett Packard Enterprise company (NYSE: HPE), today announced what the company claims is the market’s first enterprise-grade Wi-Fi 6E solution set, as defined by the new 630 Series of campus access points (APs), starting with the AP-635.
Wi-Fi 6E technology refers to Wi-Fi devices that operate in the 6 GHz band, which was – in the largest expansion of Wi-Fi capacity in nearly two decades – opened up in April 2020 by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) for unlicensed use in the United States.
Opening the 6 GHz band more than doubles the amount of RF spectrum available for Wi-Fi use, allowing for less congested airwaves, broader channels, and higher-speed connections and enabling a range of innovations across industries. According to Wi-Fi Alliance, since the FCC decision to open the 6 GHz band, 39 additional countries that are home to over 1.3 billion people have opened the 6 GHz unlicensed band for Wi-Fi 6E.
As observed by Aruba Networks:
Currently -- as organizations increase their use of bandwidth-hungry video, cope with increasing numbers of client and IoT devices connecting to their networks, and speed up their transition to cloud -- the demand for Wi-Fi continues to rise. As a result, wireless networks are becoming oversubscribed, throttling application performance. This frustrates all network users by negatively impacting the user experience, reduces productivity, puts digital initiatives at risk, and stifles innovation.
“With connectivity demands growing exponentially, Wi-Fi 6E can take advantage of up to seven, superwide 160 MHz channels and uncongested bandwidth in the 6 GHz band to deliver unprecedented multi-gigabit and low latency connectivity,” explains Kevin Robinson, SVP of Marketing at Wi-Fi Alliance. “Wi-Fi 6E will spur enhanced innovations and exciting new services. Wi-Fi Alliance is pleased to see longtime member Aruba bringing Wi-Fi 6E solutions to market that will help organizations better support critical activities like videoconferencing, telemedicine, and distance learning.”
According to leading market intelligence research firm 650 Group, Wi-Fi 6E will see rapid adoption in the next couple of years, with over 350M devices entering the market in 2022 that support 6 GHz. 650 Group expects over 200% unit growth of Wi-Fi 6E enterprise APs in 2022.
The new Aruba Wi-Fi 6E solutions are part of the Aruba ESP (Edge Services Platform), the company's AI-powered, cloud-native platform designed to unify, automate, and secure the network's edge. Able to predict and resolve problems at the network edge before they happen, Aruba ESP’s foundation is built on its AIOps technology, zero trust network security, and a unified campus to branch infrastructure "to deliver an automated, all-in-one platform that continuously analyzes data across domains, tracks SLAs, identifies anomalies, and self-optimizes, while seeing and securing unknown devices on the network," according to the company.
With Aruba’s new Wi-Fi 6E platform, the company notes organizations can take advantage of the increased capacity, wider channels in 6 GHz, and significantly reduced signal interference with 3.9 Gbps maximum aggregate throughput to support high bandwidth, low latency services and applications such as high definition video, next-generation unified communications, augmented reality/virtual reality (AR/VR), IoT, and cloud. Additionally, with the platform's new ultra tri-band filtering capability, which minimizes interference between the 5 GHz and 6 GHz bands, organizations can truly maximize use of the new spectrum, contends Aruba.
Speaking on the new product range, Mike Ferguson, network manager and enterprise architect at Chapman University, asserts: “As we progress in our digital transformation, we are continually adding an increasing number of IoT devices to our network and transitioning to Wi-Fi as our primary network connection rather than Ethernet. We are being asked to support an expanded array of mission-critical, high bandwidth applications that support research as well as hyflex learning and entertainment, like streaming video, video communications, and AR/VR for our students, professors, and staff. With Aruba’s Wi-Fi 6E APs, we’re confident that we’ll be able to not just support our short-term needs, but we’ll have room to grow as well, which will keep all of our users happy, increase our competitiveness, and allow us to extend the lifecycle of this network deployment by 50%.”
A summary of features for the Aruba 630 Series Access Points, per the company, includes:
- Comprehensive tri-band coverage across 2.4 GHz, 5 GHz, and 6 GHz with 3.9 Gbps maximum aggregate data rate and ultra-triband filtering to minimize interference.
- Up to seven 160 MHz channels in 6 GHz to better support low-latency, high bandwidth applications like high-definition video and AR/VR.
- Operates on existing IEEE 802.3at standards for PoE power so there is no need to rip and replace existing power supplies.
- Advanced security with WPA3 and Enhanced Open to better protect passwords and data.
- Flexible failover with two HPE Smart Rate Ethernet ports for 1-2.5 Gbps, offering true hitless failover from one port to another for both data and power.
- Application assurance to guarantee stringent application performance for latency sensitive and high bandwidth uses by dynamically allocating and adjusting radio resources.
- Cloud, controller, or controllerless operation modes to address campus, branch, and remote deployments.
“Consumer appetite for ubiquitous wireless connectivity is limitless, whether at home or traveling the world,” observes Mike Kuehn, president at Astronics CSC. “As a leading global provider of advanced technologies for the aerospace and defense industries – including some of the largest major airlines in the world – Aruba’s new Wi-Fi 6E AP gives us the ability to offer compelling and unique solutions that deliver a new, enhanced and more secure wireless experience to our customers.”
“Aruba has two decades of leadership in Wi-Fi innovations, backed by an unwavering commitment to providing our customers with the reliable, fast, high capacity, and secure connectivity they need to pursue and exceed their organizational objectives,” concludes Chuck Lukaszewski, vice president and wireless chief technology officer at Aruba, a Hewlett Packard Enterprise company. “Since 2016 we have helped lead the advocacy effort that has led to the 6 GHz band being opened all over the world. As such, we are extremely proud to be the first vendor to bring enterprise-grade Wi-Fi 6E solutions to market so our customers can take advantage of the huge increase in capacity that 6 GHz delivers.”
The new Aruba 630 Series APs will be available in calendar third quarter 2021. To learn more, visit www.arubanetworks.com.