Wi-Fi News Briefs

• Spreading Its Wi-Fi Tentacles
• Wi-Fi Security Solved?
• Public Access Wi-Fi In Europe

by Gerry Blackwell [October 9, 2001]

Spreading Its Wi-Fi Tentacles
Agere Systems of Allentown PA, maker of ORiNOCO wireless LAN equipment, is gearing up to spread its Wi-Fi technology further and wider.

Agere announced a deal with Young Design Inc. under which the Falls Church VA wireless network equipment maker will market the ORiNOCO technology to original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) in North, Central and South America and the Caribbean.

YDI will provide wireless LAN products and services to small- and medium-sized OEM customers, many of which are start-ups and emerging companies. Agere will continue to service the wireless LAN needs of its large-volume OEM customers directly.

Under the agreement, YDI has the right to sell a number of Agere's integrated wireless infrastructure and client products to OEM customers, including PC cards, MiniPCI devices, USB Client devices, Residential Gateways and Access Points.

In addition, YDI can offer certain Agere Wi-Fi products under its own "Go Wireless Data" private label.

YDI will supply a broad range of OEM services that enable the incorporation of Agere wireless LAN technology into new and existing product offerings.

In addition to embedded solutions, YDI will provide customized software and product labeling, as well as specialized modifications to WLAN systems enabling efficient performance with unique or proprietary operating systems.

"This relationship with YDI supports our strategy of meeting the demands of a wider set of customers," says George Holmes, vice president of North America sales for Agere Systems.

"Together, YDI and Agere can ensure that our customers receive the highest quality of service and support they require for their wireless networking systems."

"The combination of two industry leading offerings, Agere wireless LAN products and YDI's services, will bring customers the total solution they require as they look to provide wireless data networking products," says YDI CEO Robert Fitzgerald.

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Wi-Fi Security Solved?
Interlink Networks Inc. of Ann Arbor MI announced recently that it has developed a RADIUS-based wireless LAN authenticator. The software is currently available in beta release.

The Wireless Access Manager (WAM) provides secure network access control for Wi-Fi wireless LANs (WLANs), the company says.

The product is compatible with RADIUS-compliant WLAN access points, including Cisco Aironet, Agere Systems ORiNOCO, Enterasys Networks, 3Com and D-Link wireless LAN access points.

The WAM solution allows network administrators to maintain total control over their wireless network and its users by providing an enhanced level of Authentication, Authorization and Accounting (AAA) functions, thus adding a new level of security, Interlink says.

AAA RADIUS technology was originally, and still is, used by ISPs as a robust solution for controlling and authenticating user access to dial-in networks, the company notes. But the technology has been slow in entering the wireless market because of vendor compatibility and standards architecture issues.

"There has been a recent media frenzy regarding the results of security attacks that have been carried out by numerous laboratories against WEP and wireless LAN networks," notes Interlink president and CEO Mike Klein.

"WECA (Wireless Ethernet Compatibility Alliance) has long urged wireless users to supplement their security with extra measures, and RADIUS based AAA technology certainly qualifies as being well above an extra measure of security."

Using Extensible Authentication Protocol (EAP) coauthored by Interlink founder and CTO John Vollbrecht, the WAM product supports multiple authentication types including MD-5 and LEAP, Cisco's proprietary implementation of EAP.

Interlink claims the WAM solution resolves major IEEE 802.11-based WLAN security issues including: unauthorized network access, rogue access points and limited encryption keys.

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Public Access Wi-Fi In Europe
Frost & Sullivan, an international marketing consulting company, has issued a generally upbeat forecast for public wireless access point installations in Europe.

The company notes, however, that there are uncertainties in the market and some potential barriers to growth.

The study pegs European revenues for public wireless access at $4.12 million in 2001, but it predicts they will jump to $3.06 billion in 2006.

The market at this point is only just coming out of its infancy and is expected to mainly attract business users initially.

But Frost & Sullivan believes public hotspots will also eventually be used to deliver consumer services as prices for Wi-Fi and Bluetooth-enabled devices plummet and the technology becomes readily available.

In Europe, Telia, the Swedish telecom services provider, and a company Frost & Sullivan identifies as Sonera are at the forefront of installing public access points. The two have installed "a couple of hundred" hotspots across Scandinavia between them, the report says.

Wide-scale deployment of wireless-enabled devices and the continued proliferation of Wi-Fi equipment in offices and homes will help push the public access market forward, the report says.

However, it also points out that the forecasted growth is not deemed spectacular among the mobile network operators who are expected to drive the public access market in Europe.

Most of these companies, furthermore, are currently crippled by exorbitant 3G network costs and licence fees.

Fast roll-out of wireless LAN access points would detract from their 3G mobile data revenues. As a result, says Frost & Sullivan program manager Jan ten Sythoff, many of these companies are still evaluating the public access point opportunity.

"They are contemplating their next strategic move in this climate of uncertainty, limited resources and the ongoing struggle to boost wireless data services," ten Sythoff says.

"Some players are taking an early lead, while others may choose to concentrate on the cellular business, and perhaps embark on an acquisition or partnership drive."

Frost & Sullivan's research also suggests that commercial property owners—for example in the hospitality industry—could use public Wi-Fi access points on their premises to differentiate their offerings, generate additional revenue and foster stronger customer loyalty.

"Although the market is, overall, very promising, it also faces a number of challenges," ten Sythoff says, "first and foremost, the varying degrees of regulatory forces currently covering the 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands in Western European countries."

"These regulations will hamper development of public access services in nations with tight regulations, while countries with no regulations at all clearly offer a more open playing field."

The absence of roaming standards and the complexity of setting up roaming agreements are also barriers, ten Sythoff notes.

—End
     

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