Wi-Fi vendor Xirrus is boasting a new 802.11ac access point that it says will bring the new Wi-Fi standard to the mainstream with a price point comparable to the fastest 802.11n APs.
Increased competition on price may signal a new phase for the 802.11ac market, which garnered much attention with a flurry of new product announcements in the ecosystem at the recent Mobile World Congress conference.
Xirrus says its XR-620 AP can be purchased at an entry-level cost as an 802.11n AP and software-upgraded to 802.11ac. The AP has software-programmable radios that enable 2.4 GHz or 5 GHz operation for 802.11n and 802.11ac speeds on both radios, which Xirrus said allows the AP to have 30% better 802.11ac performance than 11ac APs currently on the market with only one 11ac radio.
Federal Communications Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel recently told the National Press Club that the FCC is working to free up more unlicensed spectrum for Wi-Fi use, since the Department of Defense has acknowledged that it does not need access to the 5.15-5.25 GHz band for telemetry and said that spectrum could be made available for Wi-Fi.
The 802.11ac standard could be used for that expansion in the lower portion of the 5 GHz band, she noted.
“We should seize this opportunity right now,” Rosenworcel said this week. “We can take the flexible Wi-Fi rules that have already been the script for an unlicensed success story in the 5.725-5.825 GHz band and expand them to the 5.15-5.25 GHz band. If we do, we could effectively double unlicensed bandwidth in the 5 GHz band overnight. That will mean more unlicensed service—and less congestion on licensed wireless networks. That’s win-win.”
The XR-620 is available this month and starts at $675. Watch RCR’s recent conversation with Xirrus on trends in the Wi-Fi market:
