3COM® 54 MBPS WIRELESS LAN BUILDING-TO-BUILDING BRIDGE FAMILY
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KEY BENEFITS
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BRIDGE AND ACCESS POINT COMBINATION
The 3Com 11a Outdoor Building-to-Building Bridge and 11b/g Access
Point provides point-to-point or point-to-multipoint bridge functionality
while simultaneously using another band for access point operation,
providing connectivity for mobile users. The access point, repeater, or
bridge functionality can be independently configured on both radios,
making the product extremely flexible for a variety of applications. The
bridge function supports data rates up to 108 Mbps between buildings
or to offsite locations. The access point function provides connectivity
at up to 108 Mbps for as many as 128 users.
With access point and bridging functionality on the same unit, mobile
users can link to the network and the traffic can be backhauled over a
wireless point-to-point or point-to-multipoint bridge link to another
unit attached to the wired network up to 15.5 kilometers (9.6 miles)
away. The unit includes an embedded 17 dBi high-gain antenna for
bridging applications. Optional external omni-directional and directional
antennas are available separately.
WIRELESS COST ADVANTAGES
Using wireless bridges to extend the network saves the high cost of
installing cable between buildings. Enterprises can also avoid the
expense of leasing T1/E1 lines, which can cost up to US$1,000 per
month or more. And 3Com building-to-building bridges provide 10
to 20 times the bandwidth of T1/E1 lines.
SECURE COMMUNICATIONS
To ensure privacy and protect valuable information, 3Com building-to-
building bridges are equipped with a full complement of enterprise-class
security features. The bridges provide the latest Wi-Fi Protected Access 2
(WPA2) with Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) wireless encryption,
WPA with PSK authentication, and Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP)
encryption. They also support virtual private network (VPN) and virtual
LANs (VLANs) pass-through so that data access can be restricted to
specific groups or individuals. IEEE 802.1X (EAP-MD5, EAP-TLS, EAP-
TTLS and PEAP) is supported for user or MAC authentication, and an
embedded supplicant is included for authentication to the local LAN.
DURABLE AND RELIABLE
The outdoor bridges are designed to withstand harsh conditions, as the
rugged housing guards against vibration, water and shock, and even
includes internal lightning protection. An internal heater is included to
help keep it operational in extreme cold environments. Dynamic Rate
Shifting helps keep network connections available.
POWER FLEXIBILITY
To simplify installation where AC power outlets may not be readily
available, Power over Ethernet (PoE) is supported on all bridges. The
outdoor bridges require a custom PoE inserter (included with the unit) to
support the higher power required for the embedded heater. The included
power inserter also provides additional lightning protection, which is
critical when mounting any communications equipment outdoors.
CONVENIENT INSTALLATION AND MANAGEMENT
Setup wizard software makes installation and configuration easy. Once
setup is complete, the building-to-building bridges can be remotely
managed using a standard Web browser or SNMP management tools.
