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Global networking giant NETGEAR has launched two new quad-mode business-class wireless Access Points (WAP), which support four different modes of management.
The ProSAFE WAC730 Business 3x3 Dual Band Wireless-AC Access Point and ProSAFE WAC720 Business 2x2 Dual Band Wireless-AC Access Point for small to mid-sized organisations (SMBs) were on view at the company's stand at the IP EXPO Europe event in London at the beginning of the month.
The new ProSAFE access points operate either in standalone mode or the new NETGEAR Ensemble Mode Management, which enables centralised configuration and management of up to 10 access points as a single group, all without requiring additional hardware, licenses or support fees.
Peter Newton, senior director of product management for the NETGEAR Commercial Business Unit, said: “For most businesses, standalone access points are no longer feasible as configuration changes become routine rather than occasional. Meanwhile, the jump to a managed wireless LAN controller can be costly and demanding on both IT budgets and resources.
“Our new 802.11ac Access Points supporting quad-mode operation bridge the gap, offering flexibility, scalability and ease-of-use as standard features. These products represent the broadest and most flexible wireless management choice at price points designed with SMBs in mind.”
Quad-mode holds plenty of potential for growing businesses
Quad-mode operating enables substantial investment protection, with Ensemble Mode allowing these ProSAFE Access Points to act as a stepping stone for growing organisations.
It also enables organisations to move away from standalone APs to a managed solution without a heavy IT cost and at a pay-as-you-grow pace that suits their needs. As their networks grow and they need to manage even larger groups of access points, they can simply add additional Ensemble groups, a NETGEAR ProSafe Wireless Controller or the cloud based NETGEAR Business Central Wireless Manager. Being able to deploy the APs in all management modes offers investment protection for years to come.
The inclusion of Ensemble mode management capability aims to enable businesses to initiate common firmware updates as well as monitor client connectivity and share of traffic across Access Points, all through a centralised dashboard.
The management function itself is hosted on the access point, while administrative tasks relevant to traditional controller architectures are taken out of the process, removing the need to spend extra on updates, support renewal and hardware maintenance of a separate controller.
If an access point happens to fail, Ensemble will make adjustments to ensure the group remains working co-operatively by sharing and updating appropriate settings to provide a smooth and seamless wireless network with minimal levels of downtime.
Both access points are built on a proven and award-winning NETGEAR design footprint, are around 40 per cent smaller than other models and include features such as Bonjour Gateway, which supports Apple devices across multiple subnets in a given network.
