HPE Aruba boosts Wi-Fi 7 AP capacity, eases IoT network management

HPE Aruba has rolled out new Wi-Fi 7 access points (AP) that are aimed at bolstering the capacity of wireless networks while eliminating the need for managing complicated IoT overlay networks.

The new 700 series Wi-Fi 7 access points feature dual BLE 5.4 or 802.15.4/Zigbee radios and dual USB interfaces, and they support the 2.4, 5, and 6 GHz spectrum. The access points also contain enough memory and compute capacity to run containers, according to Larry Lunetta, vice president of portfolio and communities marketing at HPE Aruba Networking. 

“This general-purpose processing capability means that organizations now have another edge resource to not just capture and route data from sources such as IoT and OT but [to also] begin to process that data locally to determine its ultimate destination—or even to make a decision and take an action,” Lunetta wrote in a blog post about the 700 series access points.

HPE Aruba claims its new Wi-Fi 7 access points can provide up to 30% more capacity for wireless traffic than competitive products. One feature that helps boost capacity is called ultra tri-band (UTB) filtering. Designed to eliminate interference, UTB filtering removes interference that may be coming from any nearby equipment on adjacent channels in 5GHz and 6GHz bands. UTB filtering can filter and adjust frequencies between 2.4, 5 and 6 GHz radios, and, with Wi-Fi 7 devices, it can enable the use of larger channels to increase performance and capacity, Lunetta said.

Also related to capacity, HPE Aruba has doubled the amount of SDRAM and flash memory in the 700 Series APs compared to previous HPE models. This allows application-specific containers to run natively on the APs, according to Lunetta, which streamlines data transmissions and allows for local processing of data when real-time conditions, such as temperature or motion, require a more rapid response.

“We have built three radios into the access point Wi-Fi radios, but we haven’t locked them into frequencies,” Lunetta said. “So, these are basically soft radios that can be mixed and matched based on what’s in your environment. So, if over time you want Wi-Fi 4 or 5 and 6 in your environment, great. If you want all 5 GHz, or all 6 GHz, or ultimately a mix of [Wi-Fi] 5, 6 and 7, you can do that,” Lunetta said.

The ability to support multiple radios and frequencies, along with the increased capacity features, removes the need to install and manage overlay networks that are typically required to support a vast array of IoT resources, Lunetta said. 

IoT overlay networks are messy, hard to manage and expensive, and the 700 Series APs can act as a connector and local processing element for IoT devices to communicate directly with third-party IoT services, according to Lunetta. “With the 700 Series APs, organizations can support new digital use cases that leverage IoT using dual dedicated Bluetooth 6 and Zigbee radios and dual USB ports that provide integrated connectivity for a broad range of IoT devices that have proprietary protocols,” Lunetta wrote.

Additional new features in the 700 Series include:

• Support for link level encryption (MACsec) capabilities that bring the wired network security standard to the wireless AP. MACsec provides point-to-point security for Ethernet links. Since MACsec encrypts data at Layer 2, it can enable security across the entire wireless connection, including the communication between APs and the wired network, Lunetta said. Customers can utilize MACsec to securely segment the wireless network, which lets customers isolate traffic from different departments or groups and thwart unauthorized access.
• Support for strong encryption and authentication with WPA3 and Enhanced Open.
• Automated Dynamic Segmentation to provide role-based access for users and IoT devices.   
• A Personal Wireless Network mode that provides secure self-service onboarding of user devices in group environments such as college campuses.
• Enhanced location-aware services that enable location precision within one meter – a feature that’s geared for real-time, immersive, and industrial-strength use cases, according to Lunetta. “This accuracy is achieved with a Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) receiver and a barometric sensor for floor-level mapping, which incorporate Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) 5.4 for bi-directional IoT location data that can enhance user engagement and track valuable assets to reduce loss,” Lunnetta wrote. The 700 Series APs also supports the IEEE 802.11az standard to help enable self-location networks.