NUREMBERG. Funkwerk Enterprise Communications GmbH, a Funkwerk AG company, presents with its bintec R232aw (Annex A, Europe ex-Germany) and bintec R232bw (Annex B, Germany) two flexible IP WLAN routers. The devices offer secure, wireless access to the Internet and reliable connections to corpo-rate networks via VPN (virtual private network). They are ADSL2 und ADSL2+ enabled and attain download speeds of up to 12 Mbit/s and 24 Mbit/s respec-tively. The two routers also integrate WLAN radio modules which comply with the IEEE standards 802.11g and 802.11b. With their attractive price-performance ratios and comprehensive features, these new members of the bintec router family are designed particularly with smaller enterprises and home offices in mind.
Key features
In future, it will be possible to operate the bintec R232aw and bintec R232bw routers using the ADSL2 and ADSL2+ standards (firmware update scheduled for Q4/2005). At download speeds of 12 Mbit/s (ADSL2) and 24Mbit/s (ADSL2+), bandwidth-greedy applications such as video on demand will become feasible. As such, both products are optimally positioned to the support broadband ser-vices offered by carriers and service providers.
Comprehensive security functions
To guarantee necessary security levels, the two bintec devices incorporate state-of-the-art security functions. Both routers support the encryption standards WEP, WPA Personal and WPA Enterprise in the WLAN. With WPA Enterprise, authen-tication is performed vis-ŕ-vis a central authority (RADIUS server), thereby ena-bling port-based access protection in accordance with the 802.1x standard. Us-ing MULTI SSID (up to 16 SSIDs), it is also possible to virtualise the air interface. In this way, different permission and access profiles can be assigned, such as guest logins to the corporate network for customers and business partners. The additional stand-alone Ethernet port enables physical isolation from the network, thereby allowing server services to be offered from within a so-called DMZ (de-militarised zone).
IPSec allows secure VPN tunnels to be set up between different locations or by people on the move. Besides using the strong encryption algorithms 3DES and AES, certificates are also supported, as recommended by the Federal Office for Information Security. The devices are already equipped with two IPSec tunnel licenses when they leave the factory. Optimal bandwidth utilisation is provided for by compressing the IPSec data streams using IPComp. A 30-day content filtering license is also included in the deliverables.
ISDN interface for backup and administration
A special feature of this device class is the integrated ISDN interface which op-tionally allows the products to be managed via direct dialup or be taken into op-eration or further configured, independently of an IP data connection. Further-more, the ISDN port can also be used to implement an automatic backup or fall-back data connection, thereby ensuring unimpaired functionality, even in the event of an outage.