SAN JOSE, Calif., May 8, 2000 - Cisco Systems, Inc. today announced that its Cisco Aironet. 340 Series Access Point and Cisco Aironet 340 Series PC Card have been awarded the Wi-Fi certification for wireless LAN (WLAN) product compatibility. Certification assures customers in the enterprise, small-to-medium business, consumer, and public access markets that Cisco's high-performance wireless LAN products will work with other Wi-Fi wireless products manufactured by different vendors. This lays the groundwork to deliver industry leading WLAN solutions that are secure, manageable, and scalable for both in-building and building-to-building wireless applications.

The Cisco Aironet 340 Series delivers instant access to mobile workers by establishing and maintaining wireless connectivity in the home, office, or public area. The Cisco Aironet 340 Series access points can serve as center points for a stand-alone network or as connection points between wireless and wired 10/100 Ethernet networks. The Cisco Aironet 340 Series client adapters couple the mobility, freedom, and flexibility of a wireless LAN with the bandwidth required by enterprise-class business applications. Both the Cisco Aironet 340 Series access points and adapters are based on the IEEE 802.11b High Rate (HR) wireless standard.

"With lower price points and higher speeds, wireless LANs are beginning to proliferate and a growing number of vendors are offering products supporting the IEEE 802.11b standard," said Patrick Paczkowski, Enterprise Infrastructure Analyst at Current Analysis. "WECA's Wi-Fi certification provides consumers and businesses the assurance that their investment is protected through true interoperability with other wireless LAN product lines."

The Wi-Fi logo certifies interoperability between PC network adapter cards, devices and access points from different vendors. The logo is regarded as WECA's "seal of interoperability" approval.

"Customers need to know that the wireless LANs they install for a variety of applications are secure and are interoperable with other wireless LAN products," said Mike Francini, marketing director in Cisco Systems' Desktop Switching Business Unit. "Wi-Fi certification ensures compatibility, thus enabling customers to improve their productivity by extending network access beyond the desktop and provide real-time access regardless of where they are located. Now, our customers have a choice to experience the performance, manageability, scalability and security benefits of their wireless LANs across different types of environments."

Cisco's acquisition of Aironet, an official founder of WECA, underscores Cisco's commitment to advance the adoption of wireless LANs and reinforces Cisco's New World strategy to deliver open standards-based wireless solutions to mobile business environments.

The Cisco Aironet 340 Series is priced at $1,299 per access point and $249 per PC card client adapter (U.S.). The client adapter is supported with a lifetime warranty. More information on the Cisco Aironet 340 Series product family.