Outdoor MultiService Range Extender Access Point. Extends the range of any Instant HotSpot device 4,000 to 6,000 sqft (dependent on terrain). Can also be used as a wireless repeater. Requires external power. POE injector purchased separately (see below).

MultiService Access Points (MAPs) bring intelligence to the edge of wireless LANs, delivering seamless mobility and strong security while minimizing operational costs. In addition to delivering a rich set of network services to 802.11 WLAN client devices, MAPs provide the industry's most comprehensive feature set among enterprise-class access points. When deployed as part of a Colubris Intelligent Mobility Solution (now owned by HP), they create a centrally managed multiservice WLAN infrastructure with seamless roaming between MAPs and the ability to establish Virtual Service Communities (VSCs)-discrete groups of network users with assigned service policies tuned to meet their shared application and service needs.

MAPs are unique in that they offer the industry's highest degree of flexibility and configurability while also offering unprecedented ease of deployment and management. MAP access points support a plug-and-play "controlled" mode in which they can automatically be discovered and configured by a central MultiService Controller (MSC). The MSC provides a central point to manage the MAPs and ensures that configurations and software versions are synchronized across the entire WLAN.

MAPs are designed to satisfy the most demanding enterprise and service provider applications. They enhance performance and safeguard confidential network traffic by enforcing security and QoS policies at the boundary between WLANs and wired networks. They apply policies that are centrally defined, leveraging existing authentication and authorization servers for ease of administration. A rich set of management interfaces lets network administrators centrally manage MAPs using the Colubris Network Management System (NMS) or any standards-based network management system. MAPs ensure consistent client coverage by automatically adjusting the RF configuration whenever they detect local sources of interference, and a self-healing feature automatically adjusts to changes in the RF environment.

With MAPs, organizations have unmatched flexibility to configure their WLANs to suit their needs and their environments. Dual radio models combine access point and RF sensor functions to provide high performance WLAN client access without compromising RF security. All access point models can be configured to operate in wireless distribution system mode, providing a convenient method for adding wireless coverage to areas where an Ethernet connection is unavailable, making them the most versatile access points in the industry.

The Key to a True MultiService WLAN

MAPs can deliver as many as 16 different WLAN services, multiplying the flexibility and value of the infrastructure. The MAP Solution ensures each service is consistently delivered by each MAP, while traffic is segmented for security. Customers can deploy a range of services, including public/guest Internet access, secure data, voice and video. Each service is mapped to a unique SSID and MAC address (BSSID), enabling client devices to quickly identify and associate with the service they need while ensuring complete interoperability with third-party client devices.

With MAPs, organizations can create VSCs that enforce specific QoS and security policies. A variety of WLAN operating parameters can be customized to the needs of each VSC, including Delivery Traffic Information Map (DTIM) signals, which client devices can use to reduce power consumption and extend battery life by as much as 50%. This per-service configurability enables customers to integrate the broadest range of client devices into their network, from legacy barcode scanners to PDAs and new generation dual mode Wi-Fi/cellular phones, while accommodating the varying security, QoS and power management capabilities of each device.

MAP Security: Defense-In-Depth

MAPs enforce centrally defined multi-layer security policies to create a secure WLAN environment. This "defense-in-depth" approach secures the airwaves by combining strong WLAN client authentication and encryption with continuous RF intrusion detection and prevention. It secures the WLAN/LAN perimeter by filtering ports, protocols and destinations and applying existing VLAN-based security mechanisms.

High performance layer 2 encryption processing using WEP, WPA and WPA2 (802.11i) protocols ensures privacy over the air. Client devices can be authenticated using industry standard 802.1x port authentication protocols or MAC addresses. Colubris access points support a standard RADIUS AAA interface, which provides compatibility with popular enterprise authentication servers, including Microsoft Active Directory and LDAP. Customers can complement their WLAN security mechanisms and strengthen the network perimeter by configuring their MAPs to apply layer 2-4 filtering and VLAN tagging on a per-VSC basis.

The MAP-330 Integrated Sensor/AP provides continuous RF security and full performance client access without compromise. By directing a complete a/b/g radio to each function, it delivers continuous RF security monitoring and intrusion prevention capabilities, plus high performance client access that supports VoIP applications. The MAP-330 Integrated Sensor/AP works together with the RF Manager to blanket the infrastructure with a layer of strong RF security, detecting rogue devices using full-frequency scans, including out-of-region frequencies as allowed by local regulations. It is designed for high performance, with capacity to detect and block up to 20 simultaneous threats.

Unparalleled QoS Support: The Key to a Versatile and Future-proof WLAN

MAPs provide the most comprehensive QoS support in the industry, enabling organizations to build a WLAN infrastructure that is future-proof and versatile enough to support the simultaneous provisioning of both real time non-real time applications. Wi-Fi Alliance certified support for the Wireless MultiMedia (WMM) specification ensures interoperability with third-party client devices that implement the IEEE 802.11e standard. Four levels of priority enable multiple applications-including voice and video-to share the same infrastructure. Traffic is integrated into the wired network by marking it using 802.1p or DiffServ. For enterprise-class VoWLAN service, MAPs are VIEW and WMM certified by SpectraLink and the Wi-Fi Alliance respectively, which ensures compatibility with the latest generation of VoWLAN telephones.

Simple Deployment, Easy Management

MAPs are easier to deploy and to manage than conventional access points, thanks to their plug-and-play and centralized management features. When deployed as part of a Intelligent Mobility Solution, MAPs securely and automatically associate themselves with a MSC which, in turn, automatically synchronizes and propagates all configuration settings and software revisions to the MAPs. The MAPs can then be managed centrally via the MSC as a single group or as multiple groups, radically reducing the time and complexity of managing individual access points. Alternatively, they may be independently managed using the embedded browser-based GUI or command line interface. All management interfaces are secured using SSH/SSL, and IPSec protects the SNMP interface.

In addition to these centralized management and control features, MAPs feature comprehensive client device monitoring and powerful troubleshooting tools that minimize operational costs:

• A client data-rate matrix summarizes the distribution of transmit and receive packets by data rate for each client, providing an easy method to diagnose performance problems.
  
• A client event log provides a detailed history of 79 different association, security and DHCP handshake events for each client.
  
• A packet capture tool grabs packets from either the WLAN or the LAN interface and saves them in PCAP file format for offline analysis.

MAPs also simplify RF management by automating the configuration and operation of the RF network. Each access point automatically selects a channel within the desired frequency band based on an interference scan. Once a channel is selected, the MAP continuously optimizes performance by scanning the environment in background mode, changing channels or adjusting output power if necessary to avoid sources of interference or the addition/removal of other MAPs.

Complete Flexibility: The Colubris Advantage

MAPs offer an edge over competing solutions in terms of ease and cost of deployment, thanks to their support for a broader range of network topologies and their unique flexibility. Customers can configure each radio independently to operate in one of several modes:

• Access point (infrastructure) mode;
  
• Dynamic wireless distribution system (D-WDS); and
  
• Simultaneous access point plus WDS, in which a single radio shares bandwidth between servicing clients and backhauling traffic to another access point.

Because they support Dynamic WDS, MAPs can be installed in areas where Ethernet cabling is either unavailable or cost-prohibitive. The Dynamic WDS implementation automates configuration of wireless backhaul links for easy deployment, and provides high availability by automatically reconfiguring around a failure. It supports point-to-point and point-to-multipoint configurations, affording customers a range of price/performance options, and features WPA2 security and QoS enforcement for all backhaul traffic.

All MAPs feature a software selectable a/b/g radio and a choice of plenum-rated or outdoor enclosures. The dual-radio models are the first a/b/g a/b/g access points in the industry, giving network managers the added flexibility of operating two channels in any combination of the 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz frequency bands.

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