3Com Offers Power over Ethernet for SMB Customers

Enterprise Networks & Servers, Jan 2005

3Com Corp. has expanded its smalland-medium business (SMB) product portfolio with a new standards-based Power over Ethernet (PoE)-enabled wireless access point. Available now, the 3Com OfficeConnect Wireless lOSMbps llg PoE Access Point makes 3Com the first vendor to deliver all the necessary components enabling complete voice-data-wireless LAN convergence for small business, according to the company.

"3Com is getting ahead of the curve by uniquely combining its new PoE-enabled wireless access point along with its PoE Web-configurable switch and small business Internet Protocol telephony system into a solution set that is specifically tailored and priced for the SMB market," said Aaron Vance, senior analyst with Synergy Research Group.

"Furthermore, 3Com's solution is particularly attractive and convenient for resellers who specialize in the small-and-medium business market."

3Com's SMB solutions offer enterprise-class features that 3Com has built into the products, including the recently announced 3Com Baseline Switch 2226-PWR Plus and 3Com NBX V3000 telephony system.

"We are giving 3Com's small business customers and medium-sized business customers the best of all converging worlds a wireless, telephony and data," said Neal Kaufman, senior director of Small Business Product Management, 3Com. "The Power over Ethernet in the Baseline Plus Switch drives power to the new PoE OfficeConnect wireless access points and 3Com advanced IP telephones. This eliminates the need for a power plug at each access point or phone. Our customers have more choices and flexibility with 3Com's secure solutions. They also get the enterpriseclass features at an affordable price and without complexity."

3Com also offers the OfficeConnect Wireless Ug X]ACK PC Card and the Intellijack device to support end-user connections, whether wirelessly by the XJACK technology in the 3Com wireless PC card or wired by the four-port, PoE-enabled "network jack," a 3Com product that turns one connection into four secure connections.

The 3Com OfficeConnect Wireless lOSMbps Ug PoE Access Point provides high-speed wireless networking for small-and-medium businesses, remote sites and temporary locations. Each access point supports up to 64 users. The PoE support simplifies the installation of wireless access points and connects each access point to the Baseline Switch 2226-PWR for power and data.

The new OfficeConnect PoE access point supports wireless security, such as 802.IX, AES and WPA. The "enterprise class" features also include lOSMbps SuperG, Wireless Distribution Systems (WDS) with WPA-PSK support over WDS links, multiple SSID support, 802. IQ VLAN support and rogue access point detection. These advanced features increase speed and security and reduce complexity for the small business customer.