Xirrus Inc., a developer of high capacity, long range WiFi (News - Alert) products, announced recently that its XS-3900 WiFi Array has received “Up-to-Spec” certification from The Tolly Group, an independent testing and consulting firm.


According to Xirrus, the tests prove that its WiFi technology outperforms other leading Enterprise-class solutions.

“We are proud to have received Tolly’s Up to Spec certification, a prestigious and well-deserved validation of our innovative design and technology.” said Dirk Gates, CEO of Xirrus, in a press release. Gates added that his company is currently the only one doing multi-radio high-bandwidth backhauls.

The tests were conducted between a pair of Xirrus XS-3900 WiFi Arrays in an outdoor environment. Each array employed 16 high-gain, multi-sector antennas and the end-user station used a standard 802.11a/b/g wireless card.

Kevin Tolly, president, CEO and founder of The Tolly Group, said his firm was impressed with the system’s capacity and throughput capabilities.

“Test after test, Xirrus’ solution outperformed the leading Enterprise-class class access point,” he said (however, the competing solution is not named in the press release).

Xirrus claims its WiFi Array delivers data rates of up to 48 Mbps from a distance of 2,700 feet in Wireless Distribution System mode. It provides 15 Mbps of TCP throughput over a distance of 2,700 feet in Wireless Distribution System mode. Data rate connection is up to 6 Mbps from a distance of 1,700 feet using a single array. The XS-3900 covers an actual distance of 1,700 feet.

By incorporating high bandwidth backhauls, the system becomes more cost effective and easier to install because there is less cabling involved. Xirrus says the system is ideally suited to school campuses, shopping malls, retail stores, warehouses – even muni-WiFi deployments.

Xirrus made news on TMCnet earlier this month when it announced that Viewpoint School - the sixth largest independent school in the California Association of Independent Schools, in Calabasas, Calif. - had selected its WiFi products for the deployment of a campus-wide wireless broadband network. Both staff and students will benefit from the new network, which has the capacity to deliver high speed Internet, voice and video services. In addition, the network can be used for video surveillance for security purposes, as well as event broadcasting.

In addition, Xirrus’ WiFi technology was used to provide wireless coverage for Interop New York 2006 - a forum for industry leaders and IT professionals held Sept. 18-22 at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in New York City. The Xirrus solution provided WiFi access to the entire event which included 100 educational sessions and 150+ exhibitors covering approximately 353,000 square feet.

For more information about Xirrus, visit www.xirrus.com.

For more information about the Tolly Group, visit www.tolly.com.

-------

Patrick Barnard is Associate Editor for TMCnet and a columnist covering the telecom industry. To see more of his articles, please visit Patrick Barnard’s columnist page.