Cisco today announced a new wireless platform designed to extend the corporate wireless network from the office to remote workers, incorporating existing control, management and security infrastructure.
The Cisco OfficeExtend solution includes new access points and a full line of wireless controllers offering high-performance wireless connectivity and include a dual-band 802.11n access point specifically designed for remote workers. Deploying the solutions require no intervention from end users, easing IT support requirements and overall cost of ownership by allowing IT teams to remotely manage home access points alongside the corporate infrastructure.
“The proliferation of smart mobile devices, the adoption of cloud services, and even government regulation are all changing the concept of workplace, and many employees have both the expectation and need to work from home. The Cisco OfficeExtend solution addresses the need for organizations to provide simple, highly secure wireless access to company resources for teleworkers either at home or in the office,” said Ray Smets, vice president and general manager, Wireless Networking Business Unit, Cisco.
Designed to support deployments of increasing scale and sophistication across any home or office environment, the Cisco OfficeExtend solution comprises the Cisco Aironet 600 Series OfficeExtend Access Points, Cisco wireless controllers and the Cisco Wireless Control System. These new solutions provide support for a rich home teleworking experience consistent with office mobility performance, and complement the Cisco Virtual Office (CVO) solution with additional wireless connectivity options for teleworkers. The Cisco OfficeExtend Solution is both voice- and video-ready and includes services such as Cisco ClientLink and Cisco VideoStream to optimize the performance of rich media communications.
The new components of the Cisco OfficeExtend solution include:
• The Cisco Aironet 600 Series OfficeExtend Access Points incorporate an 802.11n dual-radio design that supports both 2.4 and 5 GHz radio bands, allowing access to the least congested and highest performance band available. By providing separate corporate and personal Service Set Identifiers (SSIDs), the Cisco 600 Series access points segment private traffic from corporate traffic, allowing personal traffic, such as in the home, to be directed to the Internet rather than to corporate controllers. Other features include four integrated Ethernet ports for connecting IP phones, printers and other network devices in the home office to deliver a complete teleworking mobility solution.
• The new Cisco Catalyst® 6500 Series Wireless Services Module chassis supports up to 500 corporate and teleworking access points and allows customers to scale large wireless LANs to support the increasing number of mobile devices running rich-media applications such as Telepresence, voice and virtual desktops. The Cisco Wireless Service Module for the Catalyst 6500 also includes Cisco CleanAir technology for interference management, Cisco ClientLink beamforming technology to boost client performance, and Cisco VideoStream technology to optimize multicast video over wireless.
• For smaller networks, the new Cisco 2500 Series Wireless Controllers and software for the Cisco ISR G2 Services-Ready Engine offer 802.11n service for up to 50 access points and 500 clients. An innovative delivery model gives customers two options for deploying controller functionality — either physically with the Wireless Services Module or the 2500 Series Wireless Controller, or online by downloading the software on demand to the ISR G2 Services Ready Engine module. The Cisco 2500 Series Wireless Controller and Wireless Controller Software for ISR G2 Services-Ready Engine also includes CleanAir, ClientLink and VideoStream technology.
All products mentioned are scheduled to be available in May 2011 with pricing as follows:
• Cisco Wireless Services Module 2: Starting at $29,995
• Cisco Aironet 600 Series OfficeExtend Access Point: $419.00
• Cisco 2500 Series wireless controller: starting at $2,495
• Cisco Wireless LAN Controller on SRE: starting at $1,195
