Extreme, Foundry Tools Make Wi-Fi Safer, Sturdier

As wireless networks continue gaining acceptance in the enterprise, Extreme Networks Inc. and Foundry Networks Inc. are each pumping up their wireless LAN offerings with improved voice and security features.

Pushing the convergence of wired and wireless networks, Extreme this week will unveil an edge switch and companion software that enable VOIP (voice over IP) on WLANs. The 24-port Summit 300-24 supports POE (power over Ethernet) and up to 24 access points, IP phones or video surveillance cameras, said officials in Santa Clara, Calif. It has optional support for Layer 3 routing. For security, it includes authentication based on RADIUS (Remote Authentication Dial-In User Service).

The new version of the ExtremeWare software supports the SVP (SpectraLink Voice Priority) protocol and IAPP (Inter Access-Point Protocol).

Both products are available immediately. Officials said the company plans to work on the client side of voice over Wi-Fi as well, through its partnership with Avaya Inc.

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Meanwhile, Foundry this week plans to announce Layer 3 roaming support for its family of FastIron Edge switches, allowing customers to move among switches, subnets and routers without losing their connection—a feature critical for voice applications.

Also this week, Foundry, of San Jose, Calif., will announce a new version of its IronPoint access point that lets the access points perform as radio-frequency monitors to detect rogue access points and DoS (denial-of-service) attacks.

Extreme, Foundry and their major competitor, Cisco Systems Inc., each offer wide-ranging security features for their WLAN products. Still, some customers are opting to bolster their networks with additional software from third parties.

“We are using additional appliances and products to try to provide the most secure but robust network possible,” said Robert Seniors, director of network security at Florida A&M University, in Tallahassee, Fla., which is upgrading its campuswide WLAN with Foundry and Cisco hardware.

The software also includes a feature that lets administrators determine whether an unauthorized access point is on the network.

Security software provider AirMagnet Inc. this week will introduce the next generation of its intrusion detection product line. AirMagnet Enterprise 5.0 includes “3D Rogue Control”—the ability to detect, document and disable rogue access points.

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