D-Link’s portfolio of wireless solutions offers remote management and scalability for expanding wireless applications.
Unified networking solutions
provider D-Link extended its unified wireless solutions for small and midsize
businesses (SMBs) to include the DWC-1000 Wireless Controller, the DWL-6600AP
Dual-Band Unified Wireless Access Point and DWL-3600AP 2.4 GHz Single-Band
Unified Wireless Access Point, and the DWS-3160-24TC and DWS-3160-24PC Unified
Wireless Managed Switches.
Designed to help businesses
deploy, manage and secure a wireless network across multiple locations,
D-Links portfolio of wireless solutions offers remote management and
scalability for expanding wireless applications.
The D-Link DWC-1000 Unified
Wireless Controller is designed to centrally manage and control a wireless
infrastructure while addressing the demands of a growing organization,
featuring one-time configuration and dispatch to manage wireless access points
(APs). It can configure and control up to 24 APs and cluster up to four
controllers, enabling users to manage up to 96 APs. As new APs are added, the
DWC-1000 can automatically detect and configure new channels, eliminating the
need to manually assign a new radio frequency (RF) channel for each AP. In
addition, the DWC-1000 provides remote management capabilities, including the changing
of encryption keys and passwords, fast roaming between APs and delivering
automatic channel adjustments without the need to reconfigure each AP.
The DWC-1000 also
automatically adjusts radio channels and power to avoid interference and keep
the wireless network in an optimized state and offers centralized management
for six APs, upgradeable to 24, with an optional VPN, router and firewall
license to add remote access connectivity with secure site-to-site tunneling.
The appliance supports WEP, Dynamic WEP, WPA/WPA2 Personal/Enterprise security,
Wireless Intrusion Detection Systems (WIDS) and Wireless Intrusion Prevention
Systems (WIPS).
Offering speeds of up to
300M bps and Wireless N technology, the DWL-6600AP and DWL-3600AP Unified
Wireless Access Points are designed to provide enhanced signal quality, high
data throughput and increased connectivity with less interference for
businesses requiring high-bandwidth services, such as video streaming and video
conferencing. Both APs feature 2X2 embedded antennas and IEEE 802.3af Power over
Ethernet (PoE).
The appliances also support
AP clustering for management and configuration, allow integration with the
DWC-1000 controller, DWS-3160 wireless switch and other D-Link network devices,
are backward-compatible with previous-generation wireless standards, feature a
Gigabit Ethernet port with 802.3af PoE and 64-/128-bit WEP, WPA/WPA2
Personal/Enterprise security protection.
The DWS-3160-24TC and
DWS-3160-24PC Unified Wireless Managed Switches combine the functionality of a
wireless controller with an L2+ managed switch, with the ability to manage up
to 48 APs or up to 192 APs in a switch cluster. The DWS-3160 series offers
centralized security to ensure maximum network reliability, including WIDS to
detect rogue APs and clients, Radio Frequency Scan to detect potential network
security breaches, and 802.1X Network Access Control.
D-Links portfolio of
unified wireless solutions will be available in April through D-Links network
of channel partners, including value-added resellers, solution providers and
distributors. The DWC-1000 Wireless Controller DWC-1000 retails for $799.99. The
DWL-6600AP Dual-Band Unified Wireless Access Point is listed at $549.99. The
DWL-3600AP 2.4 GHz Single-Band Unified Wireless Access Point carries a price of
$349.99, and the DWS-3160-24TC and DWS-3160-24PC Unified Wireless Managed
Switches come in at $2,241.99 and $4,013.99, respectively.
As small-to-medium
businesses continue to implement wireless network systems, centralized
management becomes critical to saving precious time and money and ensuring
overall ROI, said Mark Prowten, vice president, enterprise and channel sales
for D-Link North America. D-Links expanded unified wireless portfolio allows
businesses to cost effectively deploy and manage wireless infrastructures,
offering a robust feature set typically offered in more expensive systems, and
provides the flexibility to scale as business needs grow.
Nathan Eddy is Associate Editor, Midmarket, at eWEEK.com. Before joining eWEEK.com, Nate was a writer with ChannelWeb and he served as an editor at FierceMarkets. He is a graduate of the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University.