Alcatel Goes To Aruba For Next Generation
Brian Witt, director of product marketing at Paris-based Alcatel, called the wares the second generation of Alcatel's OmniAccess WLAN switches and access points and said the new lineup provides improved scalability, management and security.
Alcatel continues to sell and support its existing first-generation WLAN portfolio, which it OEMs from Airespace, Witt said. Cisco Systems' acquisition of Airespace in March forced competitors Alcatel and Nortel Networks to seek alternative OEM partners.
Alcatel's new products encompass seven WLAN controllers, including stackable and chassis-based switches, and three access points. The high-end offering, the OmniAccess 6000, is a four-port modular switch that supports up to 512 access points, a more-than-10-fold scalability boost over Alcatel's preceding WLAN portfolio, Witt said.
Serge Melki, president of Melsernet, a solution provider based in Indianapolis, said he'll use the line's increased scalability to target larger customers and simplify deployments. "Now you don't have to have a rack full of equipment to support your wireless network. You can do it with two switches, and you're up and running," he said.
Alcatel has integrated the new products with its OmniVista network management platform as well as its OmniVista 2770 Quarantine Manager, software that can isolate or block nefarious traffic.
"When a rogue access point is detected, Quarantine Manager can shut the port that the rogue [access point] is attached to or place that port into a quarantined VLAN," Witt said, adding that further integration with Alcatel's management tools is scheduled for later this year.
The new stackable OmniAccess 4000 series switches start at $2,595, and the OmniAccess 6000 series chassis switches start at $14,495. Single-radio access points cost $295, while the dual-radio AP 70 is priced at $595. All products are available now.