Networking cards Cisco

Cisco Aironet 802.11a/54Mbps Wireless Cardbus PC-card The Cisco® Aironet® IEEE 802.11a/b/g Wireless CardBus Adapter provides high-performance 54 Mbps connectivity in the 2.4 and 5 GHz bands. Whether configured to support single 802.11b coverage, single 802.11g coverage, single 802.11a coverage, dual-mode 802.11a/g coverage or tri-mode 802.11a/b/g coverage, the Cisco Aironet 802.11a/b/g Wireless Cardbus Adapter is Wi-Fi compliant and combines the freedom of wireless connectivity with the performance, security, and manageability that businesses require.

Designed with enterprise-class security requirements in mind, the Cisco Aironet 802.11a/b/g Wireless Cardbus Adapter is a key client-side component of the award-winning Cisco Wireless Security Suite. Based on the 802.1X standard for port-based network access, the Cisco Wireless Security Suite takes advantage of the Extensible Authentication Protocol (EAP) framework for user-based authentication. This solution also supports WPA, the Wi-Fi Alliance specification for interoperable, standards-based wireless LAN security.

The Cisco Aironet 802.11a/b/g Wireless Cardbus Adapter supports the most common 802.1X authentication types, including Cisco LEAP, Extensible Authentication Protocol Transport Layer Security (EAP-TLS), Protected Extensible Authentication Protocol (PEAP-GTC), and Protected Extensible Authentication Protocol Microsoft Challenge Handshake Authentication Protocol Version 2 (PEAP-MSCHAP V2). A wide selection of RADIUS servers, such as the Cisco Secure Access Control Server (ACS) and Cisco Access Registrar (AR) server, can be used for enterprise-class centralized user management that includes:

•Strong, mutual authentication to ensure that only legitimate clients associate with legitimate and authorized network RADIUS servers via authorized access points

•Dynamic per-user, per-session encryption keys that automatically change on a configurable basis to protect the privacy of transmitted data

•Stronger encryption keys provided by Temporal Key Integrity Protocol (TKIP) enhancements such as message integrity check (MIC), per-packet keys via initialization vector hashing, and broadcast key rotation

•RADIUS accounting records for all authentication attempts

•Ready for Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) Support

The Cisco Aironet 802.11a/b/g Wireless CardBus Adapter is a key component of the Cisco Structured Wireless-Aware Network (SWAN) an innovative, comprehensive Cisco solution for deploying, operating and managing a few to hundreds to thousands of Cisco Aironet access points using the Cisco infrastructure. Cisco SWAN provides the wireless LAN with the same level of security, scalability, and reliability that customers have come to expect in their wired LAN by introducing "wireless-aware" capabilities into the Cisco infrastructure. This solution is available on IEEE 802.11a and IEEE 802.11b Cisco and Cisco Compatible clients today and on IEEE 802.11g clients in 2004.

Wireless domain services (WDS) is introduced with Cisco SWAN. WDS is a collection of Cisco IOS Software features that expand WLAN client mobility, simplify WLAN deployment and management and enhance WLAN security. These services, supported on access points and client devices today and on specific Cisco LAN switches and routers in 2004, include radio management aggregation, fast secure roaming and WAN link remote site survivability. WDS radio management aggregation supports radio frequency (RF) managed services such as rogue access point detection, interference detection and assisted site surveys.

Fast secure roaming is supported by Cisco and Cisco Compatible client devices in conjunction with Cisco Aironet, Cisco IOS Software-based access points. With fast secure roaming, authenticated client devices can roam securely from one access point to another without any perceptible delay during reassociation. Fast secure roaming supports latency-sensitive applications such as wireless voice over IP (VoIP), enterprise resource planning (ERP), or Citrix-based solutions

A new and improved set of client utilities includes the Aironet Desktop Utility (ADU), Aironet System Tray Utility (ASTU), and Aironet Client Administration Utility (ACAU). Together, these utilities provide an intuitive graphical user interface (GUI) for easy configuration, monitoring, and management of the Cisco Aironet
802.11a/b/g Cardbus Adapter. Enhanced client network management features include:

•Profile Manager—Allows users to create specific profile settings for various environments, such as the office and home, making it simple for telecommuters and business travelers to move from one environment to another

•Customized Profile settings—Lets users individually select channel, service set identifier (SSID), Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP) key, and the authentication method for different locations

•Cisco LEAP authentication status screen—Provides status updates regarding the Cisco LEAP authentication process

•Auto-selection of profiles, including Cisco LEAP profile—Provides automatic selection of established profiles, including Cisco LEAP profile, without requiring storage of the Cisco LEAP username and password in the profile

•System tray icon—Provides easy access to wireless LAN connection information and one-click access to common actions such the manual selection a profile or turning the radio on or off

•Aironet Client Monitor—Provides a subset of ADU features, such as status information about the client adapter and access to basic tasks such as selecting a profile. This application runs from the system tray icon.

•Troubleshooting Utility—Provides step-by-step details on the process of connecting to an access point with highlights on why a connection failed

•Support for the most popular enterprise operating systems—Windows XP and Windows 2000

Regulatory Domain: E=ETSI