3Com Drives Next Wave of Network Convergence

The 3Com H3C Unified Network Access (UNA) products include a common framework for managing wired and wireless networking products while also seeking to lower wireless networking costs by eliminating the need for separate wireless controllers. Instead, that functionality has been embedded into the rest of the 3Com portfolio of products.

The end result, 3Com officials claim, is that thousands of 802.11n access points can now be supported via a single chassis. In addition, 3Com officials said customers can set specific quality of service (QoS) thresholds.

3Com officials said that because the company originally bulit its product line under a joint venture with Huawei Technologies from the ground up, a common operating system implementation across wired and wireless network products means increased ability to scale devices. 3Com now owns all the intellectual capital developed with Huawei, but company officials specifically contrasted this approach with archrival Cisco Systems, which over the years has acquired a number of wireless technology vendors that all have disparate operating systems that Cisco needs to support and integrate.

In terms of pricing, 3Com officials said they remain committed to pricing these and other 3Com products at about 25 percent less than existing wireless networking rivals such as Cisco and Aruba. Pricing for the S7500E chassis module is $16,999. Pricing for a standalone WX Wireless Controllers starts at $6,499. Pricing for Unified Wired and Wireless Switches starts at $2,299. 802.11n Access Points start at $699 and a/b/g Access Points start at $249.