Press Release
ProSafe® Smart Wireless Switch (WFS709TP) Centrally Manages Wireless Deployments for Growing Small and Mid-Sized Businesses by Providing the Ability to Easily Deploy, Configure and Manage the Wireless Infrastructure while Enforcing Robust Security Policies, Maximising Network Performance and Providing Seamless RoamingBracknell, UK May 21, 2007 – NETGEAR, Inc. (NASDAQGM: NTGR), a worldwide provider of technologically advanced, branded networking products, today announced at Interop Las Vegas 2007 the launch of the NETGEAR ProSafe Smart Wireless Switch (WFS709TP), the industry's first full-featured wireless controller designed to support the wireless infrastructure demands of growing
small- and mid-sized businesses. The ProSafe Smart Wireless Switch is a feature- rich wireless controller that delivers enterprise-class connectivity and secure wireless LAN functionality by providing small- and mid-sized companies with the ability to configure, control and manage up to 48 wireless access points across the wireless infrastructure.
With built-in support for Power over Ethernet, the ProSafe Smart Wireless Switch supports secure seamless roaming for wireless devices across the wireless network. Advanced security features allow wireless devices to securely communicate on the network. With an embedded RF Planning tool, the ProSafe Smart Wireless Switch enables network administrators to input building and workspace parameters to compute the RF characteristics of the building and plot the optimal location of the access points. In addition, the wireless controller supports IntelliFi™ RF Management that automatically self-configures radio parameters including transmit power level, channel, load balancing, and interference avoidance, to provide continuous and consistent wireless coverage.
NETGEAR ProSafe Smart Wireless Switch incorporates enterprise-class security features including RADIUS and AAA Server support enabling companies to unify wired and wireless networks.
The NETGEAR ProSafe Smart Wireless Solution consists of the ProSafe Smart Wireless Switch (WFS709TP) and the NETGEAR ProSafe "Light" Wireless Access Points consisting of NETGEAR ProSafe 802.11g Light Wireless Access Point (WGL102) and the NETGEAR ProSafe Dual Band Light Wireless Access Point (WAGL102).
"Until now, options for expanding the wireless infrastructure in small- and mid- sized businesses were severely limited, i.e., multiple independent access points that were managed and configured individually. This inherently created a management and security nightmare, as organisations continued to scale their wireless infrastructure by deploying multiple independent access points. As each access point had to be managed independently this deployment significantly limited the scalability of wireless infrastructure over a period of time while increasing the cost of ownership," explained Vivek Chugh, Senior Product Line Manager at NETGEAR. "The ProSafe Smart Wireless Solution provides the ability for small- and mid-sized companies to easily and affordably deploy a scalable, secure, feature-rich wireless network that integrates seamlessly with the existing wired infrastructure. The powerful enterprise-class feature set enables network administrators to place and predict the coverage of each individual access point, centrally manage and enforce network security policies, and provide seamless roaming throughout the workplace to improve the productivity of employees and minimise network complexity."
About the ProSafe Smart Wireless Switch (WFS709TP)
The NETGEAR ProSafe Smart Wireless Switch (WFS709TP) is a wireless controller that enables small- and mid-sized businesses to deploy a centralised wireless LAN architecture to control and manage multiple wireless access points throughout the workplace.
The NETGEAR ProSafe Smart Wireless Switch provides end users with robust functionality including the ability to seamlessly roam across multiple access points, centralised security and management, built-in RF planning and management capabilities, and location tracking. It features built-in Power-over-Ethernet (PoE) support across the eight 10/100 ports to ease access point deployment and incorporates a 10/100/1000 uplink port for connection to more Power over Ethernet switches for additional wireless access point deployments and to the network backbone. In addition to an advanced security feature set which includes 802.1x, support for EAP-PEAP, EAP-TLS, EAP-TTLS, 802.11i, MAC address filtering, SSID and location based authentication, the WFS709TP also incorporates enterprise-class security features including RADIUS- and LDAP-based AAA server support enabling companies to unify wired and wireless access without compromising on security.
A standalone WFS709TP can support up to 16 wireless access points and 256 users per switch. The ProSafe smart wireless solution can support up to three Smart Wireless Switches configured to support as many as 48 NETGEAR ProSafe access points including the ProSafe 802.11a/g Dual Band Light Wireless Access Point (WAGL102), ProSafe 802.11g Light Wireless Access Point (WGL102), and ProSafe Dual Band Wireless Access Point (WAG102)
To maximise performance and efficiency of the wireless infrastructure, the WFS709TP integrates IntelliFi RF Management to provide automatic self- configuration of all radio parameters to provide continuous wireless coverage and mobility support. With the ability to input floor plan images, number of floors, building dimensions, desired coverage, and an overlap factor of fault tolerance, network administrators can utilised the built-in planning tool to predict the RF characteristics of the building to plot the optimal locations for access points and display predicted coverage.
Ensuring network resiliency to protect mission critical applications, the WFS709TP supports fault tolerant hardware with industry standard N+1 wireless controller redundancy and access point interleaving to provide a wireless network that guarantees the highest possibly availability with no single point of failure.
About the ProSafe 802.11a/g Dual Band Light Wireless Access Point (WAGL102)
The NETGEAR ProSafe 802.11a/g Dual Band Light Wireless Access Point is a versatile business-class wireless access point managed by the NETGEAR ProSafe Smart Wireless Switch (WFS709TP) that delivers secure, reliable, high- performance wireless access at both the 5 GHz and 2.4 GHz 54 Mbps radio transmissions.
About the NETGEAR ProSafe 802.11g Light Wireless Access Point (WGL102)
The NETGEAR ProSafe 802.11g Light Wireless Access Point is a versatile business- class wireless access point managed by the NETGEAR ProSafe Smart Wireless Switch
(WFS709TP) that delivers secure, reliable, high-performance wireless access at 2.4 GHz 54 Mbps radio transmissions.
The NETGEAR ProSafe Smart Wireless Switch (WFS709TP) is backed by a lifetime hardware warranty for the original purchaser and 24/7 technical support.
Optional NETGEAR ProSupport service offerings include advanced technical support (OnCall 24x7) and next business day hardware replacement (XPressHW). The WFS709TP will be available in Q3 2007 via leading direct marketers, e-commerce sites, and value-added resellers at a list price of $2,900 USD.
The NETGEAR ProSafe 802.11a/g Dual Band Light Access Point (WAGL102) is backed by a lifetime hardware warranty for the original purchaser and 24/7 technical support. Optional NETGEAR ProSupport service offerings include advanced technical support (OnCall 24x7) and next business day hardware replacement (XPressHW). The WAGL102 will be available in Q3 2007 via leading direct marketers, e-commerce sites, and value-added resellers at a list price of $249 USD.
The NETGEAR ProSafe 802.11g Light Access Point (WGL102) is backed by a lifetime hardware warranty for the original purchaser and 24/7 technical support.
Optional NETGEAR ProSupport service offerings include advanced technical support (OnCall 24x7) and next business day hardware replacement (XPressHW). The WAGL102 will be available in Q3 2007 via leading direct marketers, e-commerce sites, and value-added resellers at a list price of $210 USD.
