Aerohive unveils updated access points to cope with rise of iPhone and iPad

Aerohive has launched three new access points designed to meet the growing demands placed on corporate Wi-Fi networks by the rise of smartphones and tablets.

The firm has launched two indoor access points, the HiveAP 330 and 350, and an outdoor access point, the HiveAP 170, which Aerohive claims are 30 per cent smaller and 50 per cent faster than previous devices in the HiveAP range.

Aerohive marketing director Stephen Philip told V3.co.uk that the 330 and 350 have upgraded radios to help businesses deal with the rise in tablet and smartphone use.

"We've increased the received sensitivity of the radios by 5dBs and they run in the 5GHz and 2.4GHz ranges so different devices can run in different channels and data rate sensitivity is increased," he said.

"Most phones only have 2.4GHz chips so with this move we can force smartphones into one channel, and tablets and laptops into the other, to stop congestion and ensure good connectivity and data rates."

Philip explained that the HiveAP 170 is designed to reduce the cost of an outdoor access point by offering a more basic version of the systems offered to service providers by vendors such as Cisco.

"Most organisations don't want complex access points, so we've aimed the 170 at more commercial deployments but with enough resilience to withstand most environments by working in temperatures from -40 to 55C," he said.

Furthermore, Philips said that the devices will receive a free software upgrade in the future to enable them to run as network routers so that companies can use them as back-up switches or to run small networks.

All devices are 802.11n-enabled, and the HiveAP 330 and 350 are available now priced at $999 each. The HiveAP 170 is available at the end of Q3 starting from $1,499.