Cisco Takes Lead in 802.11n with Aironet 1250 Product Release

By Mike Jude, Nemertes Senior Analyst
Sept. 13, 2007

Cisco Systems (NASDAQ: CSCO) announced the product release of its new Aironet 1250 wireless access point, which it is marketing as the first WiFi-compliant access point to conform to the IEEE 802.11n draft 2.0 proposed standard. This move underscores enterprise momentum behind 802.11n as the next generation of WiFi technologies, and enables Cisco to stake out a leadership position in the market.

In the Nemertes Research benchmark, "Building the Successful Virtual Workplace," we noted that enterprises would increasingly look to wireless technology as a viable alternative to recabling. Cisco has explicitly recognized this with the release of the Aironet 1250.

The Aironet 1250 is a modular access point capable of being configured to operate at either 2.4 Ghertz or 5.0 Ghertz. It uses the Cisco MIMO (multiple input, multiple output) architecture to enable data rates as high as 300 GBPS in an 802.11n mode and includes a Gigabit Ethernet interface The Aironet 1250 is designed to operate in high-noise environments, with existing 802.11 a/b/g agents and is intended to enable future upgrades as new wireless standards are adopted.

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