D-Link Launches Public/Private Gateway

The DSA-3100 provides both public and private broadband Internet access that allows access to up to 250 public users while maintaining a private secure LAN for private access.

In other words, the owner of a coffee shop can offer patrons with mobile devices Wi-Fi access from his private network, eliminating the need for credit card authorizations and high provider fees, said Greg Avera, D-Link's vice president of channel sales. A small printer attached to the device prints out a temporary user name and password for the patron.

"Anything that provides connectivity to travelers and other mobile users is going to be hot," said Enrique Nieves, vice president of Electronic Solutions, a solution provider in tourist-rich Daytona Beach, Fla. "It's a win for the store owner, it's a win for their customer and it's a win for me. There are a lot of stores in my area that could use something like this."

The DSA-3100 bundled solution is part of D-Link's push to expand its strong retail presence into more solutions-oriented product, Avera said earlier this week at CMP Media's XChange 2003 conference in Orlando. The bundled solution

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"We do a great job marketing inexpensive product through retail and we sell a lot of low-end products through solution providers, but if we're all going to stay healthy we can't just be in the $30 product world," he said. "We have to do it with higher-end products and it takes solution providers to drive that."

Since launching its partner program early last year, D-Link has been working to protect pricing for its solution providers, Avera said.

"We understand how difficult it is for a solution provider to put his heart into building a deal only to have it undercut by a direct marketer," he said. "If someone represents us to a customer, we have to reward that. If a solution provider has given us measurable type of value, then we have to protect that."

For example, D-Link helps control partner pricing on registered deals so, if a customer sees the product advertised at a lower price from, say, a national retailer, D-Link will try to provide a more competitive price to the solution provider, Avera said.

"There are no guarantees," Avera said, "but I can help to stack the deck."