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05/30/2004: "Commodity WiFi switches"

As I predicted over 18 months ago, (and more recently here) WiFi switches just went commodity.

Linksys (now a division of Cisco Systems) representative presented several new products at the So. Cal. Wireless Users Group Thursday night.

Amoung other things, they presented Wireless the Linksys WET54GS5 Wireless Ethernet Switch. Its features include:

Managed Ethernet switch
Wireless supports virtual LANs (VLAN)
Supports up to 69 VLAN users
Each wireles suser gets a separate Subnetted IP address
Targeted release June 2004

I thought that Broadcom would release a package that made it easy to build a small-to-medium scale WiFi switch. They have all the requisite chips, and the software is relatively straightforward. Most of the WiFi switch startups are running Atheros-based designs, because Broadcom keeps the programing information about their 802.11 MAC+BB under wraps, but they could implement the requisite control structures themselves, and produce a 'kit' for the Taiwanese to clone.

Hell, for all I know, they have.

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