Dual-band WLAN access point is versatile

Taiwan's D-Link Corporation is offering a dual-band Wireless LAN access point, the D-LinkAir DWL-6000AP, that integrates full interoperability for 802.11a and 802.11b. Clients operating at the second-generation 802.11a standard (54 Mbps at 5 GHz) are able to access legacy wireless LANs at the 802.11b standard (11 Mbps at 2.4 GHz), and vice versa. This should prove an attractive option for owners and managers of networks who wish to upgrade to 802.11a, while preserving backwards compatibility with 802.11b.

The D-LinkAir DWL-6000AP integrates full interoperability for 802.11a and 802.11b.

Under typical indoor conditions, this access point has a range (receive-transmit) of 15 to 100 meters. The unit can stand either horizontally or vertically, and its dimensions are 230×160×35 mm, roughly equivalent to those of a small notebook PC. It is easily stackable. It has two external antennas, and two internal. One pair (one internal and one external) transmits and receives at 802.11a, and the second pair at 802.11b. The unit's RF circuitry determines which is the most appropriate antenna for the incoming signal.

The unit's 802.11a functionality, which includes OFDM (orthogonal frequency division multiplexing), is enabled by the Atheros AR5000 chipset. Texas Instruments’ ACX-100 provides support for 802.11b. According to D-Link product manager Shinglin Chung, the company will eventually design a single-chip solution.

There are two internal mini-PCI slots, which allow both WiFi and WiFi5 adapters and connectivity.

The unit's external ports include 10/100 Ethernet, allowing this access point to also function as a bridge between wireless and Ethernet networks. There is also an RS-232 port. Either remotely or on-site, these ports allow a full range of monitoring, management, and configuration. They also enable firmware upgrades, supporting new features, as these become available.

Managers can communicate with the unit via a command line console, such as Windows' Terminal, or remotely via Telnet or a Web interface. The unit has its own embedded web server and IP address.

Management is via D-Link's D-View software, which is fully SNMP (Simple Network Management Protocol) compliant. Network security is implemented with support for WEP at 64, 128, and 152 bits, as well as ACL (access control list). According to product manager Chung, D-Link will also introduce support for TKIP and AES, and this will become available as a firmware upgrade in the third quarter of this year.

The DWL-6000AP is in mass production now and carries a list price of US$400.


D-Link Corp
Fax (886) 2-2914-6299
www.dlink.com.tw