Extricom's TrueReuse Meets RF Challenges
Extricom, which has offices in New York, last week introduced a 24-port WLAN switch that incorporates a proprietary technology called TrueReuse that triples the capacity of a standard Wi-Fi channel by dynamically managing bandwidth, said David Confalonieri, vice president of corporate marketing at Extricom.
In contrast to other WLAN infrastructure, Extricom's solution consists of hardware and firmware loaded on the chipset inside its switches and access points, and doesn't incorporate software. It's especially suitable for enterprise deployments because switches are designed to allow access points to operate simultaneously on two channels in the same band without causing interference, Confalonieri said. "That's a physical RF challenge that we're able to overcome because the switch is tightly controlling everything the access point does," he said.
This architecture also makes it possible to segregate different types of traffic and users and works well with bandwidth-intensive applications such as VoWLAN and streaming video, he added.
Nate Tyson, president of Venture NetComm, a Lawrenceville, Ga., solution provider, said Extricom's solution is easier to deploy than WLAN gear from other vendors he has worked with. "Extricom provides a great alternative to more complex WLAN solutions because we can go in to the customer and quickly set it up without a lot of preliminary work," he said.
Extricom's WLAN solution can be deployed side-by-side with other vendors' WLAN gear without interference. In addition, Extricom's own access points can overlap without interfering with each other, allowing for tighter, more effective coverage with no dead spots, Tyson said.
Extricom, which received an undisclosed investment from Motorola's venture capital arm last month, has signed up some 50 VARs since entering the market in October, and has a nascent partner program offering volume discounts.