Xirrus Asserts the Decline of the Thin Access Point

Business Wire, June 5, 2007

Thin is out - Smart is In

WESTLAKE VILLAGE, Calif. -- Xirrus, Inc., the only provider of high-performance, long-range Wi-Fi products, announced validation of the trend in the Wi-Fi industry away from the "thin" access point. The introductions of next generation Wi-Fi technologies, together with the ever increasing performance demands being placed on Wi-Fi networks, are together necessitating a shift in architectural approach. Recent announcements by leading Wi-Fi vendors - including Aruba Networks, Trapeze Networks, and Meru Networks - reflect the shift towards moving greater performance and intelligence to the edge of the network, which in the case of Wi-Fi means to the Access Point itself.

The impending transition of Wi-Fi architectures to support high performance 802.11n - which will bring more than five times the bandwidth to existing 802.11a/b/g systems - is a key inflection point mandating changes to Wi-Fi network design. The significant increase in network bandwidth brought about by 802.11n makes the concept of backhauling all Wi-Fi traffic to a centralized controller obsolete. Such intelligence and switching performance must be pushed to the access point at the network edge to best handle voice over Wi-Fi, streaming video, and other network-demanding applications.

"The adage that you can never be too thin no longer applies to Wi-Fi architectures. Xirrus' string of customer wins and announcements by competitors validate our vision and approach of pushing more intelligence and bandwidth to the edge of the network, something we have been promoting since the inception of the company," said Alan Amrod, vice president of sales and marketing at Xirrus. "You know you are doing it right when your competitors crowd your booth with cameras, especially when it is the vice president of marketing of a major player who recently had their initial public offering."

The Xirrus Wi-Fi architecture places four, eight, or 16 radios, plus Wi-Fi controller and integrated switching into a single device. Combining these functions and moving this intelligence to the network entry point results in greater performance, control, and flexibility than more distributed architectures. This evolution follows the maturation of Ethernet in wired network infrastructure where first switching, then routing, then even higher-layer awareness moved outwards from core to edge over time. The application of these principles to Wi-Fi is a natural extension.

The recent successful Wi-Fi deployment at Interop Las Vegas 2007 provides another example of the benefits of the award-winning Wi-Fi Array architecture. Xirrus was able to cover 1 million square feet of convention space with only 12 devices, a feat thin AP architectures would require six to eight times as many devices to handle at significantly greater installation time and cost. With over 6,200 users of the Wi-Fi network and support for multiple voice, video and data applications, the event provided a real-world testament that "fatter" Wi-Fi architectures are demonstrating themselves as the preferred approach to Wi-Fi network design moving forward.

About Xirrus

Xirrus, the leader in high performance, long range Wi-Fi is making "the air the network." Xirrus manufactures the patented Wi-Fi Array platform that integrates up to 16 radios with an onboard Gigabit Switch, Wi-Fi Controller, Firewall, and dedicated Wi-Fi Threat Sensor into a single device. The Xirrus solution delivers 2X the range, 4X the coverage, 14X the throughput, and requires 75% less devices, cabling, switch ports, and installation time compared to any competitive solution. Xirrus Wi-Fi Arrays are ideal for any organization deploying Wi-Fi, especially those that require support for large coverage areas, dense user populations, and high bandwidth applications.

Xirrus is a privately-held company headquartered in Westlake Village, California. For more information, please visit www.xirrus.com.

Xirrus - The Air is the Network[TM]

Xirrus - Intelligent Wi-Fi[TM]