Actiontec Electronics, Inc., a leading manufacturer of wireless networking products, and Atheros Communications Inc., the leading supplier of IEEE 802.11a chipsets, have teamed up to bring 802.11a technology to business and home users. Under the agreement, Actiontec will develop and market products based on the AR5000 WLAN chipset developed by Atheros. The Atheros AR5000 solution features breakthrough "Radio-on-a-Chip" (RoC) technology and is the world's first all CMOS chipset supporting the IEEE 802.11a standard.
The first two Actiontec products, to debut in November, will be the 802.11a Wireless Card and the 802.11a Wireless Access Point, with suggested retail prices of $169 and $499, respectively. The new Wireless Card is designed to be compatible with the 32-bit Type II PC Card Slot. The Access Point will serve as a wireless hub and router to extend the network to additional computers and allow the integration of broadband modems and other wired and wireless networks.
In December, Actiontec will be shipping its Mini PCI 802.11a Wireless Card and the Mini PCI 802.11a Wireless Combo Card, which will include a 56K Modem. Both cards will be designed to fit into any notebook or handheld computer equipped with a Mini PCI interface and will enable OEMs and System Integrators to capitalize on the wireless trend by offering high speed wireless devices to their corporate customers. Utilizing one of its core competitive advantages, Actiontec will be able to customize either card to fit a customer's specific needs.
The 802.11a Wireless Card, the MiniPCI 802.11a Wireless Card, and the Mini PCI 802.11a Wireless Combo Card operate ad hoc or peer-to-peer to create a stand-alone wireless network, or with the Actiontec 802.11a Wireless Access Point for a wireless connection to existing conventional networks. The Actiontec 802.11a Wireless Product Family will offer users the ability to enjoy high speed wireless access for transfering files, DVD movies or songs at speeds up to 54 Mbps.
"This partnership with Atheros enhances our already strong presence in the field of wireless networking and gives us the ability to develop products that will bring WLAN technology to new heights in speed and efficiency," stated Ramzi Al-Harayeri, general manager of the Wireless Product Division for Actiontec Electronics. "We're excited to be working with a company whose technology will advance WLAN connectivity to a whole new level."
"Actiontec is recognized for its innovation in broadband wireless connectivity," added Mark Bercow, vice president of marketing for Atheros Communications. "We're pleased to be working with them to deliver next-generation wireless networking solutions powered by Atheros' industry-leading 802.11a technology."
The 802.11a standard delivers data rates up to 54 megabits per second, giving users the ability to handle even the most demanding high-bandwidth multimedia applications, such as HDTV and digital video. In addition, 802.11a offers significantly more channels than current technology, allowing greater system capacity and scalability for large WLAN deployments. The unlicensed 5 GHz frequency band of the 802.11a standard provides wireless network connectivity that is free from interference with microwave ovens, cordless phones and networking technologies such as Bluetooth and HomeRF that operate at 2.4GHz.
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