NEW YORK, October 2, 2002 - Cisco Systems, Inc., today announced the Cisco Aironet 1100 Series Access Point (AP), a Wi-Fi-certified, (IEEE 802.11b)-compliant wireless infrastructure product that delivers, in a single device, the intelligent network services demanded by enterprise customers at an attractive price point. The Cisco Aironet 1100 Series, along with the dual mode Cisco Aironet 1200 Series, continues Cisco's commitment to offering enterprise customers flexible mobile networking with a choice of standards-based radio technologies, and a range of wireless applications.

The affordable Aironet 1100 Series is the first Cisco access point to be based on Cisco IOS® Software, a leading network system software for switches, routers and other wired network infrastructure equipment. With Cisco IOS Software running on the wireless infrastructure, enterprise customers will now be able to extend intelligent network services, including Virtual Local Area Networks (VLANs), Quality of Service (QoS), and Proxy Mobile IP to the wireless network edge. A consistent feature set and familiar interface takes advantage of existing enterprise management tools and skill sets, resulting in a more scaleable and secure integrated LAN infrastructure at a lower total cost of ownership.

"Introducing Cisco IOS software to the Aironet 1100 Series is a watershed mark for Cisco and the wireless industry," said Joel Conover, Principal Analyst, of Current Analysis. "In a market characterized by rapid growth and commoditization, Cisco is delivering a solution that gives enterprise customers a strong reason to choose Cisco over the competition. The Aironet 1100 Series offers greater ease of deployment, scalability, and manageability, and ultimately greater investment protection when deploying enterprise WLAN infrastructure."

Using Cisco IOS Software, customers can deploy up to 16 VLAN segments to differentiate services, such as security and QoS for different users. Enterprise customers can, for instance, use different VLANs to segregate employee voice, video and data traffic from guest traffic, or educational institutions can secure faculty and administration traffic differently from student traffic, even while it travels over the same infrastructure.

In addition, with Proxy Mobile IP, IS professionals can segment their wireless network in much the same way as a wired LAN, improving performance, manageability and scalability while still providing seamless roaming between Cisco access points.

The Cisco Aironet 1100 Series is UL2043 certified for installation in the plenum air spaces above ceilings that are subject to local fire codes. For maximum investment protection, the Aironet 1100 Series is designed for field upgradeability with its Mini-PCI form factor radio, the same form factor used in Notebook PCs, to provide next generation features like 54Mbps (IEEE 802.11g) and more robust AES security encryption.

The hardware platform also provides processing power, memory, and storage for future feature enhancements through firmware upgrades. The Aironet 1100 Series access point features an integrated omni-directional antenna and secure mounting system, designed for trouble-free installation in a variety of locations like ceilings, walls, cubicle walls and desktops.

"Enterprise customers are deploying wireless LAN solutions incrementally as their strategic needs require. They expect wireless to be an extension of the wired Ethernet network sharing common network design, services and management and a pay-as-you-go approach to adding users on to the wireless LAN. This simplifies the migration to a wireless network, lowering the total cost of ownership," said Bill Rossi, vice president and general manager of Cisco's Wireless Networking Business Unit. "The Cisco IOS Software-based Aironet 1100 Series AP delivers the end-to-end intelligent services expected by enterprise customers at a small incremental cost for wireless Internet connectivity."

Pricing and Availability

The Cisco Aironet 1100 Series AP, which is equipped with an 802.11b radio and integrated antennas, has a U.S. list price of $599. The Cisco Aironet 1100 Series AP begins shipping this month. The Cisco Aironet 1200 Series is scheduled to support Cisco IOS in Q1CY2003.