Sophos’s new wireless access point AP50 supports 5 GHz connections

IT security and data protection company Sophos today announced the availability of the Astaro AP50, its new dual-band/dual-radio capable wireless access point. The new addition to Astaro's wireless access point family supports both WLAN frequency bands at 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz and enables fast and reliable wireless networking which is virtually impervious to radio interference. 

The wireless access Point AP50 supports dual-band connections, allowing organizations to segment their wireless networks by radio frequency spectrum (2.4 GHz or 5 GHz). Users who require fast and seamless wireless connections with little interference (e.g., for VoIP telephony) may use the 5 GHz network, while others may use the 2.4 GHz network for daily business tasks. This type of WLAN segmentation optimizes performance and delivers the best user experience possible, even in congested WLAN environments. 

To maximize the WLAN performance, the AP50 also features a Gigabit Ethernet interface and supports MIMO technology with two detachable antennas, delivering data rates up to 300 Mbit/s under best conditions. That way, the AP50 supports at least up to 50 users. For more deployment flexibility, the AP50 comes with a single port Gigabit PoE-injector that powers the access point over the Ethernet cable. Both the AP50 and the PoE-injector support the latest Power-over-Ethernet standard 802.3at (PoE+). 

"When developing new products, we are always trying to keep the feature requests of our customers in mind," said Martin Becker, product manager, Sophos Network Security. "With the proliferation of wireless networks we realized two things—first, that our customers needed a way to maintain maximum wireless network performance for a variety of different applications and second, to support more users on the wireless network. The AP50 is our answer to those requirements." 

Like all wireless access points from Astaro, the AP50 is centrally managed through Astaro Security Gateway, which acts as a wireless controller. More information on AP50 and Astaro's Wireless Security solution is available at: http://www.astaro.com/products/access-points. 

" As more devices and clients make use of wireless access, the ability to segment a wireless network will give my clients the flexibility needed to reserve faster network connections for the people who most need wireless access," said Phil Pawelcyzk, CEO of Core Support, LLC. "This new feature differentiates us from other wireless security providers, giving us a distinct advantage in the security and wireless marketplace."