Adtran Aims Virtual Wireless Wares At BYOD Challenge

acquired last year with Bluesocket

The suite, part of a string of announcements made by Adtran around a media and analyst event this week in Boston, ties together Bluesocket vWLAN tools with other products in Adtran's NetVanta portfolio, including its Unified Threat Management security appliances, Gigabit Ethernet switches and RapidRoute-enabled routers.

A single instance of Bluesocket vWLAN, which leverages VMware hypervisors, can support 48,000 users and 1,500 wireless access points, according to Adtran. Solution providers can deploy the vWLAN and other NetVanta elements as an integrated offering for customers or can deploy them piecemeal.

[Related: Adtran's Growth Drivers: Wireless, Carrier Networking, VARs ]

"What makes Adtran's integrated BYOD Network Suite so attractive is that it bridges the gap between wireless and wired access to create one seamless network that is easily managed, maintained and expanded -- an advantage that cannot be delivered by any other vendor in the market today," Ted Cole, Adtran's vice president of channel sales, said in a statement.

Bluesocket, which Adtran acquired for an undisclosed amount last summer, was thought to be a game-changing buy for both companies: Adtran bolstering its rudimentary wireless portfolio with a leading-edge virtual WLAN technology, and Bluesocket getting a marketing boost through Adtran's more than 3,400 channel partners.

Adtran on Wednesday also confirmed availability of its NetVanta 160 and 161 wireless APs, the first products in the NetVanta portfolio to be fully integrated with the Bluesocket technology. Both APs can support dual 802.11n radios up to 600 Mbps and Adtran is promising customers easy scalability: more wireless capabilities added as end-user requirements change and an upgrade path for SMBs as they build their network.

Adtran's enterprise business is still less than 25 percent of the total revenue pie and a fraction of the size of its carrier infrastructure businesses, recently bolstered by the acquisition of Nokia Siemens Networks' fixed broadband unit. But its VAR partner base is continuing to grow -- it expanded about 10 percent from 2010 to 2011 -- and Adtran expects to better emphasize those enterprise channels thanks to a 2011 decision to split its enterprise channel sales team into individual teams focused on service provider partners and VARs.