Cisco Adds Integrated Routers

Building on the successful launch last year of its integrated-services routers, Cisco Systems last week expanded the line with devices aimed at small and midsize businesses, and added wireless LAN and improved security and management capabilities to the entire product line. The routers include support for voice, data, security, and now wireless capabilities in one device.

Cisco says it has shipped more than 100,000 integrated-services routers since September, and orders are coming in at a rate that would produce more than $1 billion in annual sales. The integrated networking devices appeal to branch offices and small businesses that don't have many or any IT resources on site to deploy and manage the routers, says Jeanne Dunn, senior director of routing and switching product marketing for Cisco. "The key thing is to not just integrate but to make them much simpler to deploy and manage," she says.

Cisco's 800 and 1800 series of integrated-services routers for small businesses include VPN encryption, acceleration hardware, and security features such as a firewall, intrusion-prevention software, network-admission control, and URL filtering. The 1800 series is a managed eight-port device that offers virtual LANs and power-over-Ethernet capabilities and starts at $1,295. The 800 series includes the 870 model, a four-port switch that starts at $649, and the 850 model, a 10/100 Mbps switch that starts at $399. They join the larger 2800 and 3800 series of integrated-services routers.

The line now provides wireless LAN capabilities, either built-in or via modular wireless interface cards. Cisco also introduced for the 2800 and 3800 series 16-, 24-, and 48-port EtherSwitch modules, which include power-over-Ethernet features. It also rolled out serial and asynchronous high-speed WAN interface cards.

The wireless capabilities convinced property-management and real-estate developer Watt Commercial Properties Inc. to swap out its existing Cisco routers for the new devices. Watt has more than 30 remote offices that are used for property management or construction projects, and the number of people who work in each office fluctuates from two or three to 10.

"The offices shrink and expand based on the needs of the project," CIO Dan Campbell says. "Wireless gives us the ability not to have to run traditional cable and still be able to easily expand and contract the number of users."

Campbell says he likes being able to install a single, simple device that provides routing, switching, a firewall, and wireless capabilities, and at the same time can be managed centrally from headquarters. "There are no IT resources in those offices, so we need people in the field to plug and unplug cables," he says. "These routers were easy to deploy for my limited staff."

Cisco also enhanced its network-analysis and -management features, which include improved bandwidth estimation for user-defined quality of service, and updated its application and content-networking system, which helps to manage traffic and optimize WAN bandwidth.

"Cisco sees a lot of competition from other vendors that are trying to get a piece of the router pie," says Matthias Machowinski, an enterprise voice and data analyst at Infonetics Research. "Cisco continues to innovate and try to broaden the appeal of its product line."

Machowinski calls the inclusion of wireless "interesting," but says he isn't sure how much appeal it will have to small businesses. "I see wireless more often in larger companies," he says. "For smaller businesses, it's nice to have, but not a must-have."