Cisco Access Points Identify Radio Interference

Networking | News | Mike Vizard, Tuesday, April 27, 2010
Cisco System, Enterprise Networking, Power over Ethernet, Wi-Fi
One of the biggest challenges any IT organization faces when it comes to deploying wireless networks is interference with the radio signals that transport data to the wireless access points.

Cisco today at Interop is introducing a new class of wireless access points that include an ASIC processor specifically designed to identify causes of interference with radio signals.

According to David Stiff, manager of product management for the Cisco Wireless Network business unit, Cisco developed the ASIC technology, which the company refers to as CleanAir technology, in response to complaints about wireless network performance that can be affected by anything from a microwave oven to old wireless handset phones. The ASIC technology can identify more than 20 different sources of radio signal interference while rating the intensity level of each source of interference, said Stiff.

The new Cisco Aironet 3500 Series access points make it easier to identify various sources of interference. IT organizations can then either remove the noise or shift the access point to a new position.

Separately, Cisco also announced that the Cisco 5500 wireless controller can now support up to 500 access points, an increase of 100 percent, and supports Power over Ethernet. In addition, the company is adding a lifetime guarantee to the Aironet series.

Pricing for the Cisco Aironet 3500 series starts at $1,095.

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Financial returns
Thu, 2011-01-27 15:59 — Cluehunt (not verified)
By inter-juicing a software-based spectrum analyzer that works with all of your existing 802.11n access points.Well this may be more cost effective to the customer, but would their be more financial returns for Cisco to do this.One would would like to think so, but then again.
A different way of thinking about the customer
Fri, 2010-04-30 13:38 — Michael Tennefoss (not verified)
Imagine that you only recently installed new 802.11n access points. Now you want to add spectrum analysis. You're told that to get it you have to rip-and-replace access points everywhere you want to check for interference. Since interference can pop up virtually anywhere, that means you'll have to replace all of the access points in your network. Every single one, including the 802.11n devices you only just installed. Brilliant move for the vendor, not so brilliant for the customer. A more customer-friendly solution would be to introduce a software-based spectrum analyzer that works with all of your existing 802.11n access points. There is no law of physics that dictates you must use a hardware-based analyzer, and Aruba's new software-based spectrum analyzer is a case in point. It all comes down to how you think about the customer and his/her investment in your products. Rip-and-replace or download-and-play.

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