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3Com promotes wireless networking
Thursday, September 13 2001
by Sheila McDonald


3Com has launched a new wireless bridge to let companies connect new or temporary
offices to the corporate network without wires.





The company is promoting the new 11Mbps wireless bridge, which is retailing in
the US for around USD1,095, as a more affordable way for companies to connect new
facilities to the network. 



"Due to the expensive and complex nature of previous wireless bridging
solutions, many organisations have shied away from using this very practical
technology to get new or temporary sites connected," said Karen Oddey, vice
president, marketing and business strategy, 3Com Corporation. She said the new
bridge is available at a more affordable price point for businesses including
those in education, healthcare, airports and construction. 



When installed the bridges should permit data transfer between corporate
buildings. The bridges can transmit data over distances of up to 1,300 meters
using omni-directional antennas, or 4,100 meters (2.6 miles) using directional
antennas.  



To protect data while in transit the bridges support 40-bit and 128-bit Wired
Equivalent Privacy (WEP) encryption. This data protection standard has come under
serious criticism since multiple tests have proven it leaves data open to
interception and decryption. Last month a new tool, AirSnort, was released
publicly on the Internet, able to intercept and analyse data moving across
wireless networks. Once enough data packets have been gathered, the tool can
guess the encryption password. AirSnort's makers said they created the tool to
prove that WEP alone cannot secure wireless networks.



But 3Com said the bridge can also support Virtual Private Networking protocols,
which enable data delivery via secured tunnels. Security experts say that
combining Virtual Private Networking with WEP offers one solution to the current
vulnerabilities of WEP.



3Com said the USD1,095 list price for the building-to-building bridge does not
include price for antennas and cables. More information is at href="http://www.3com.com">http://www.3com.com.