By Charles Waltner, News@Cisco

The Cisco Aironet 350 Series of Wi-Fi^TM (IEEE 802.11b) compliant wireless local area network (WLAN) products will literally rise above the competition as part of the airline industry's first onboard broadband network. In conjunction with Boeing Corp.'s satellite service, and as part of the Cisco Mobile Office program, Cisco is helping Deutsche Lufthansa AG deploy a high-speed Internet link for passengers on its intercontinental flights.

Europe's second largest carrier will begin testing the technology at the end of November on a Boeing 747-400 jet and will start trials with passengers in January 2003. Lufthansa, a Cisco Mobile Office: On the Road partner, plans to deploy the service over the next two years on its 80 aircraft flying intercontinental routes from Europe to North America and Asia.

Boeing subsidiary Connexion is providing the satellite data link from the plane to the ground. Unlike other data connection options for airliners, Connexion's is the only one offering a true broadband feed of 5 Mbps downstream and 750 Kbps upstream. Combined with the Cisco Aironet 350 Series Wi-Fi equipment, which will deliver up to 11 Mbps speeds within the onboard network, passengers can access the Internet faster than many terrestrial options such as DSL or cable modems.

Any traveler with a laptop computer or portable device equipped with a Wi-Fi compliant NIC card or enabled with Wi-Fi embedded inside will be able to log onto the wireless network. As part of the service, Lufthansa will also operate a 10 Mbps Ethernet wired network onboard for those passengers without wireless-capable computers. With 380 seats, a typical Lufthansa 747 has as many network connection sites as a mid-sized company.

Lufthansa anticipates wireless LAN's will become the preferred means of connection to public networks for mobile users and anticipates the premium technology will distinguish it from competitors. The carrier hopes to move to wireless-only onboard networks over the next couple of years as a way of saving weight on its planes. Wired connections to each of the seats on a Boeing 747 add hundreds of pounds and lower fuel efficiency.

The on-board Wi-Fi network will include five Cisco Aironet 350 Series Access Points, nine Cisco Catalyst 3548 XL switches, one Cisco 3640 router, and Cisco ContentEngine 590.

Lufthansa plans to charge for use of the service by the minute at rates similar to those for cellular phones. As part of the offering Lufthansa is developing a custom portal to help travelers with news and information.

Lufthansa examined at least two other equipment options for the onboard network but chose Cisco's for its comprehensive wireless and wired networking technologies.

The Cisco Aironet 350 Series has won Mobile Computing's First Class Award and Network World's Blue Ribbon Award for its superior technology and the depth of its system capabilities.

Cisco Mobile Office: On the Road, a subset of the Cisco Mobile Office solution, is a global program focused on promoting secure, high-speed access in public spaces for mobile professionals.