New Players To Roll Out Wireless Wares

While more than 200 exhibitors are listed as demonstrating products for communications or wireless, only a handful are involved in the U.S. channel on anything beyond an OEM basis. Such companies are exhibiting a fairly narrow range of products, including wireless gateways, wireless interface cards and products to set up wireless access points.

Some of the suppliers are new to the business, including several motherboard manufacturers looking to expand their product lines.

One such company, Fremont, Calif.-based Asus Computer International, started shipping its first wireless option for its motherboards three weeks ago, said Steve Sung, field engineer at the company.

The Wi-Fi@Home card includes 128-bit wired equivalent privacy (WEP) security and connects to 802.11a, 802.11b and 802.11g networks. An optional software application allows the card to serve as a wireless access point, Sung said.

Gigabyte Technology, City of Industry, Calif., also is making its first foray into the wireless world, a company spokesperson said.

In the Gigabyte wireless lineup and ready to ship now are Cardbus wireless LAN cards, including one for 802.11g and another that works with 802.11a, 802.11b and 802.11g networks, the spokesperson said.

The company also plans to ship next month two wireless Internet broadband routers that support PPPoE and PPPoE unnumbered DSL connections and that offer firewall filtering. One model offers 802.11a and 802.11g connectivity, while the other works with 802.11g networks, the spokesperson said.

Gigabyte also plans to ship two 802.11b USB wireless LAN interfaces, one of which also includes flash memory, the spokesperson said. This follows a desktop version of an 802.11b module that started shipping this month, and fits on the back of a desktop PC and connects to a motherboard's on-board USB port, the spokesperson said.

Finally, Gigabyte is preparing to ship two wireless access points--one for 802.11b and the other for 802.11a and g.

Meanwhile, Albatron, a Cypress, Calif.-based motherboard manufacturer, has invested in a sister company that's busy developing wireless products, said Grandy Chen, general manager. He said he expects such products to be available early next year.

But not all motherboard manufacturers have jumped on the wireless bandwagon.

Al Peng, worldwide sales and marketing director at AOpen, San Jose, Calif., said his company had developed a wireless PCI interface card but dropped the project two months ago. The market was tough because of security concerns and because customers are more concerned with wireless on their mobile PCs than on their desktops, Peng said. "With notebook PCs, buyers automatically think wireless," he said.

In any event, wireless interface cards have difficult competing with other options, said Peng. "An interface card might cost $20," he said. "But now you can buy a USB 2.0 wireless interface for $12."

Handlink Technologies, a Taiwan-based builder of wireless solutions that sells to OEMs and via Zyxel in the United States, next month will ship a new account generator thermal printer for its 802.11b wireless access point solution, said Jacky Liu, product manager.

That solution creates a wireless access point in a retail or other small locations for selling wireless time to customers, Liu said. The new thermal printer has three buttons that can be programmed for three different times. When pressed, the customer is charged for the time and given a user name and password to access the time, he said.

Lectron USA, Walnut, Calif., showed four-port and eight-port integrated access devices that allow home or SOHO users to customize their connectivity solutions, said David Liang, a sales rep at the company. Customers can mix and match modules including ADSL, an 802.11b wireless access point, Bluetooth or four or eight ports of RJ-45 or RJ-11. The devices are expected to ship in November, Liang said.