Wi-Fi security start-up: 'Tools not toys'

Source: ZDNet

Trapeze Networks, whose wireless LAN products launch on Monday, joins a crowd of established network vendors and start-ups pitching for the business-grade Wi-Fi market.

Many companies have been reluctant to adopt wireless LANs thanks to security fears, and Trapeze aims to allay those concerns with secure roaming.

"We make tools not toys," said Jim Flach, chief executive of Trapeze. The WLAN Mobility System lets users log in once and carry their privileges as they move between wireless cells. "There's been a conflict between security and mobility," said Flach. "We want to do both at the same time."

The product is based, like most wireless LANs designed for business use from companies such as Symbol and Nortel, on a wired switch that handles wireless traffic when it hits the wired network and integrates with that network. The logic and access control is centralized, in a so-called Mobility Exchange switch, while the wireless base stations are reduced to Mobility Points containing the radio and some other features.