Hotzone Products

 

FlexNET Hotzone products (ASN-820 and ASN-900) provide last mile Wi-Fi connections to customers. These IEEE 802.11a/b/g-standard based Wi-Fi products offer several features that support deployment of wireless broadband access services. Wi-Fi compliant access services can be built with FlexNET ASN-820 and ASN-900 Hotzone products. Wireless broadband services with these products can also be deployed in enterprise and industrial networks. FlexNET Hotzone products include base stations, highgain antennas, robust power supply and advanced network management features. End-users connect to the ASN-820 and ASN-900 base stations with standard Wi-Fi products such as PDAs, laptops and Wi-Fi client terminals including a radio unit, which comprises low cost customer premise equipment solution enabling wireless access. All FlexNET Hotzone products are designed for outdoor use.

 

Both products have two radio units, which can be configured independently. While the ASN-820 is used with external antennas the ASN- 900 also includes an integrated narrow beam antenna for possible link connections. The ASN-900 can also be used without the integrated antenna and use both radios to provide client access. Typical installation scenario for the ASN-820 and ASN-900 is a Wi-Fi Hotzone network, which is built into sectored radio cells. Breadth of the sectors depends on the antennas used.

 

Backhaul of Hotzone nodes can also be be provided using an integrated AS.MAX WiMAX CPE. This can supplement FlexNET backhaul, or allow both radios to be used for Hotzone Access.

 

Main features of the ASN-820 and ASN-900 support network level functionalities, where standard IP protocols and IEEE 802.11a/b/g compliant radios are used. These network level features are based on deployment with the ControlNET server, which supports DHCP server and relay, centralised user management, connection handovers between subnets and bandwidth management. DHCP server and bandwidth management features support professional ISP (Internet service provider) features that can be offered with FlexNET Hotzone products. These products have been developed based on experience from several large-scale network deployments and WISP (Wireless ISP) service operating experience. Major advantage of this kind of standardbased network is that there are no requirements for proprietary software programs or vendor specific security solutions. Enterprises and operators using the ASN-820 and ASN-900 products can customise their access network services with different kinds of standardised network applications like WLAN roaming, IP based VPN, instant access etc.

 

While the ASN-820 is a pure Hotzone product, the ASN-900 can be used as a Hotzone and link product simultaneously. As mentioned, both radios of the ASN-900 can also be configured for client access purposes. It provides versatile possibilities for different installations. Link features of this product are typically used in point-to-point installations where two radios are connected between them to form a wireless bridge type connection. Access features of these products are used in last mile installations, where end-users can connect to the Internet using Wi-Fi Hotzone services carried out with the FlexNET Hotzone products.