Colubris Networks Inc., a maker of systems for public wireless LAN hot spots, has teamed up with network equipment vendor Juniper Networks Inc. to offer hot spot systems that can be centrally managed and efficiently deployed, the companies announced Monday.
The companies will offer service providers Colubris CN3000 access devices for hot spots and the Juniper Networks E-Series broadband edge routers and SDX-300 Service Deployment System to be set up at a central carrier facility.
Rather than configuring and managing each access point by itself and buying a gateway to sit between the access points and the wide-area network, service providers will be able to handle access point management, user authentication and access control from a central location. The CN3000 is a specialized access point device that can be managed remotely via the SDX-300 and can serve as a proxy for user authentication and access control at a central carrier facility, according to Carl Blume, director of product marketing at Colubris, in Waltham, Massachusetts.
With the combined system, service providers will also be able to use IP all the way from the hot spot to the E-Series router over DSL or another infrastructure. Avoiding conventional DSL, leased line or cable service as a "backhaul" for data traffic to and from the hot spot can save service providers money, Blume said.
Colubris and Sunnyvale, California-based Juniper Networks will make the system generally available to carriers beginning June 30, Blume said.