The Key to a True MultiService WLAN

Colubris MAPs can deliver as many as 16 different WLAN services, multiplying the flexibility and value of the infrastructure. The Colubris 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 Colubris 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.

Simple Deployment, Easy Management

Colubris 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 Colubris Intelligent Mobility Solution, Colubris MAPs securely and automatically associate themselves with a Colubris 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, Colubris 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.

Colubris 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

Colubris 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 Local Mesh; and
• Simultaneous access point plus Local Mesh, in which a single radio shares bandwidth between servicing clients and backhauling traffic to another access point.

Because they support dynamic Local Mesh, MAPs can be installed in areas where Ethernet cabling is either unavailable or cost-prohibitive. The Colubris dynamic Local Mesh 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 Colubris MAPs feature a software selectable a/b/g radio and a choice of plenum-rated or outdoor enclosures. The dual and tri-radio models are the first all a/b/g radio access points in the industry, giving network managers the flexibility of operating in any combination of the 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz frequency bands.