Enterasys and Siemens Enterprise Communications announced a new release of the HiPath Wireless portfolio including new pricing, increased hardware scalability and new software features to unify wired and wireless communications while enhancing security.

HiPath Wireless provides a way to deploy 802.11n solutions and facilitate wired/wireless integration at a low TCO while supporting a range of mobile voice, video and location-based applications.

Built to enable voice and HD video communications across the WLAN, the HiPath Wireless dual-radio 3×3 MIMO 802.11n wireless access point (AP) can cost up to 30 percent less than single-radio or 2×3 MIMO offerings from leading competitors, the companies said. Plug-and-play AP configuration and Power over Ethernet (PoE) technologies simplify deployment and help users avoid infrastructure upgrade costs.

The new C5110 wireless controller scales to support more than 1,000 wireless APs. Simplified licensing ensures only the desired capacity can be purchased for initial deployment, while enabling growth over time without restricting particular APs to particular controllers or controller connection limits.

The HiPath Wireless v6 software optimizes traffic flow for each user group and/or application with specific capabilities for health care and manufacturing industries. Traffic can be switched and distributed at each AP, and/or controlled centrally in hybrid modes of operation.

Unified Wired/Wireless Management and Security Integration between Enterasys NetSight management software suite and the Siemens HiPath Wireless portfolio provides end-to-end visibility of HiPath Wireless access points, controllers and wireless clients from NetSight Console. The new integration delivers improved network management efficiency and wired/wireless infrastructure topology mapping and visibility for network administrators. HiPath Wireless Manager HiGuard enhances security with embedded wireless intrusion prevention and location-based services.

The new C5110 wireless controller is $31,995, supporting up to 1,050 APs in a high-availability deployment or 525 APs in a standard configuration. The HiPath Wireless dual-band 3×3 MIMO 802.11n AP offers promotional pricing for a limited time at $665. HiPath Wireless Manager licensing starts at $1,500 with the integration component for Enterasys NetSight included as part of the annual maintenance agreement. All of the new HiPath Wireless offerings are available within 90 days from authorized Enterasys distributors and value-added resellers worldwide in addition to current Siemens Enterprise Communications channels.