Cisco Aironet is a maker of wireless networking equipment currently operated as a division of
Cisco Systems
Cisco Systems, Inc., commonly known as Cisco, is an American-based multinational digital communications technology conglomerate corporation headquartered in San Jose, California. Cisco develops, manufactures, and sells networking hardware, ...
. It was started by ex-
Marconi Wireless employees in 1986 as Telesystems SLW in Canada, right after the United States
Federal Communications Commission
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains jurisdicti ...
(FCC) opened up the
ISM band
The ISM radio bands are portions of the radio spectrum reserved internationally for industrial, scientific and medical (ISM) purposes, excluding applications in telecommunications.
Examples of applications for the use of radio frequency (RF) ener ...
s for spread spectrum license-free use.
Telxon acquired Telesystems SLW in 1992, and Aironet Wireless Communications was spun off from Telxon's RF Division in 1994. Cisco Systems acquired Aironet in 1999.
One of its pre-acquisition direct competitors was
NCR and its successors (
AT&T
AT&T Inc. is an American multinational telecommunications holding company headquartered at Whitacre Tower in Downtown Dallas, Texas. It is the world's largest telecommunications company by revenue and the third largest provider of mobile te ...
and
Lucent
Lucent Technologies, Inc. was an American multinational telecommunications equipment company headquartered in Murray Hill, New Jersey. It was established on September 30, 1996, through the divestiture of the former AT&T Technologies business u ...
), who sold the
WaveLAN
WaveLAN was a brand name for a family of wireless networking technology sold by NCR, AT&T, Lucent Technologies, and Agere Systems as well as being sold by other companies under OEM agreements. The WaveLAN name debuted on the market in 1990 and was ...
wireless networking technology.
Pre-acquisition Aironet products
*
ARLAN 900 MHz proprietary wireless networking
* ARLAN 2.4 GHz proprietary wireless networking
Cisco Era Aironet products
* Aironet 700W Series
** Simultaneous dual band radio, 802.11n based, wall-plate-mountable, BandSelect, VideoStream, 4x Gb ethernet ports, one PoE port, requires a controller.
* Aironet 1100 Series (2009)
** 1130
** 1140 - 802.11n (2.4 GHz only), PoE, single port, ClientLink beam forming technology.
*** End of Life: October 1, 2013.
*** End of Software Updates: October 1, 2014.
* Aironet 1700 Series
* Aironet 1850 Series
* Aironet 1200 Series
** 1240
** 1250
** 1250
* Aironet 1300 Outdoor Access Point/Bridge
* Aironet 2600 Series
* Aironet 2700 Series
* Aironet 2800 Series
* Aironet 3500 Series
* Aironet 3600 Series
* Aironet 3700 Series
* Aironet 3800 Series
* Aironet 4800 Series
Cisco Aironet compatible wireless controllers
* Cisco 8540 Wireless LAN Controller
* Cisco 5520 Wireless LAN Controller
* Cisco 3504 Wireless LAN Controller
* Cisco 2500 Wireless LAN Controller
* Cisco Virtual Wireless Controller.
See also
*
List of Cisco Systems acquisitions
References
{{reflist
External links
The WayBack Machine's archive of a page with more info on Aironet's history
Wireless networking hardware
Cisco Systems acquisitions
Computer companies established in 1986
Networking companies of the United States
Networking hardware companies
1999 mergers and acquisitions