U.S. Robotics Bows WLANs on TI's ACX100 Tech

Schaumburg, Ill.-based U.S. Robotics on Tuesday announced its new line of 22 Mbps wireless networking products would be backwards compatible with the emerging 802.11b "Wi-Fi" standard.

The company, which builds and markets modems and wireless network access hubs for businesses and consumers, said the newest wireless products was based on the Texas Instruments ACX100 802.11 technology.

In a statement, U.S Robotics said the ACX100 technology would allow its products to be backwards compatible with all current 802.11b 11 Mbps devices and have the fastest wireless speed available in a 2.4-gigahertz radio spectrum.

U.S Robotics said its new 22 Mbps suite of products -- the Wireless Access PC Card, the Wireless Access PCI Adapter and the Wireless Access Point -- would allow the networking of multiple PCs without the hassle of expanding an existing 802.11b wireless local area network (LAN) or creating a new wireless LAN capable of up to 22 Mbps wireless speeds.

"Additional features include a bridging function to support building-to-building roaming and networking, a 256-bit WEP encryption and MAC address authentication for security and privacy and up to 70 percent better area coverage than conventional 11 Mbps wireless products," U.S Robotics said.

The U.S. Robotics 22 Mbps Wireless Access Point, which carries a retail price of $199.99, allows users to share files, Web access and peripherals with multiple users.

When combined with the Wireless Access PC Card (retail $99.99) and the Wireless Access PCI Adapter Card (retail $119.99), U.S Robotics said the access point would allow data rates up to 22 Mbps, twice the speed of existing WLAN networks.