Cisco Adds Wireless Capabilities to Catalyst 6500

Cisco Systems introduced Wireless LAN Services Module (WLSM) for its Catalyst 6500 Series switches. The new module enables enterprises to use their existing Catalyst wireline infrastructure without having to build a completely separate overlay wireless LAN network.



A single Catalyst 6500 Series WLSM deployed anywhere in the network supports up to 300 Cisco Aironet Series Access Points (AP) and up to 6,000 users. Cisco said its new Catalyst 6500 Series WLSM also delivers the industry's fastest, highly secure user roam times. Additionally, the Catalyst 6500 Series switch capabilities are transparently available to wireless LANs either natively through the Supervisor Engine 720 or through the addition of other service modules such as the Firewall Services Module, Intrusion Detection Services Module and VPN Services Module. The Catalyst 6500 Series WLSM has a U.S. list price of $18,000 for the base module which includes a license for support of up to 150 APs.



Cisco is also introducing a new version of its centralized Wireless LAN management system that detects and compensates for out-of-service APs as well as maintaining security policies by suppressing rogue APs through switch port shut-down. The system also automatically protects the radio frequency (RF) environment from unauthorized access with an intrusion detection system (IDS). The Auto RF Optimization capability also automatically adjusts AP radio transmit power and channel selection for optimal RF coverage. Other new features include warm standby redundancy and real-time client tracking and reporting. http://www.cisco.com