Aruba Introduces Industry’s First Enterprise-Grade Wi-Fi 6E Solution

New Wi-Fi 6E Access Points Leverage 6 GHz Band to Deliver Greater Performance, Lower Latency, and Faster Data Rates to Support High-Bandwidth Applications and Use Cases

HONG KONG SAR – Media OutReach – 27 May 2021 – Aruba, a Hewlett Packard Enterprise
company (NYSE: HPE), today announced the market’s first enterprise-grade Wi-Fi
6E solution set – the
630 Series of campus access points (APs), starting with the AP-635*. The
latest innovation in Wi-Fi technology, Wi-Fi 6E refers to Wi-Fi devices that
operate in the 6 GHz band, which was – in the largest expansion of Wi-Fi
capacity in nearly two decades – opened up in April 2020 by the Federal
Communications Commission (FCC) for unlicensed use in the United States. Opening
the 6 GHz band more than doubles the amount of RF spectrum available for Wi-Fi
use, allowing for less congested airwaves, broader channels, and higher-speed
connections and enabling a range of innovations across industries. Since the
FCC decision to open the 6 GHz band, 39 additional countries that are home to
over 1.3 billion people have opened the 6 GHz unlicensed band for Wi-Fi 6E.
(Source: Wi-Fi
Alliance)

Currently,
as organizations increase their use of bandwidth-hungry video, cope with increasing
numbers of client and IoT devices connecting to their networks, and speed up
their transition to cloud, the demand for Wi-Fi continues to rise. As a result,
wireless networks are becoming oversubscribed, throttling application
performance. This frustrates all network users by negatively impacting the user
experience, reduces productivity, puts digital initiatives at risk, and stifles
innovation.

According to leading market
intelligence research firm 650 Group, Wi-Fi 6E will see rapid adoption in the
next couple of years, with over 350M devices entering the market in 2022 that
support 6 GHz. 650 Group expects over 200% unit growth of Wi-Fi 6E enterprise APs
in 2022.

The
new Aruba Wi-Fi 6E solutions are part of Aruba
ESP (Edge Services Platform), the industry’s first AI-powered,
cloud-native platform designed to unify, automate, and secure the Edge. Able to
predict and resolve problems at the network edge before they happen, Aruba
ESP’s foundation is built on AIOps, Zero trust network security, and a unified
campus to branch infrastructure to deliver an automated, all-in-one platform
that continuously analyzes data across domains, tracks SLAs, identifies
anomalies, and self-optimizes, while seeing and securing unknown devices on the
network.

With Aruba’s new Wi-Fi 6E offerings, organizations can take
advantage of the increased capacity, wider channels in 6 GHz, and significantly
reduced signal interference with 3.9 Gbps maximum aggregate throughput to
support high bandwidth, low latency services and applications such as high
definition video, next-generation unified communications, augmented reality/virtual
reality (AR/VR), IoT, and cloud. Additionally, with a new ultra tri-band
filtering capability, which
minimizes interference between the 5 GHz and 6 GHz bands, organizations can truly maximize
use of the new spectrum.

“As
we progress in our digital transformation, we are continually adding an
increasing number of IoT devices to our network and transitioning to Wi-Fi as
our primary network connection rather than Ethernet. We are being asked to
support an expanded array of mission-critical, high bandwidth applications that
support research as well as hyflex learning and entertainment, like streaming
video, video communications, and AR/VR for our students, professors, and staff,”
said Mike Ferguson, network manager and enterprise architect at Chapman
University. “With Aruba’s Wi-Fi 6E AP, we’re confident that we’ll be able to
not just support our short-term needs, but we’ll have room to grow as well,
which will keep all of our users happy, increase our competitiveness, and allow
us to extend the lifecycle of this network deployment by 50%.”

Aruba 630 Series Access Point Key
Features

• Comprehensive tri-band
  coverage across 2.4 GHz, 5 GHz, and 6 GHz with 3.9 Gbps maximum aggregate data
  rate and ultra-triband filtering to minimize interference
• Up to seven 160 MHz
  channels in 6 GHz to better support low-latency, high bandwidth applications
  like high-definition video and AR/VR
• Operates
  on existing IEEE 802.3at standards for PoE power so there is no need to rip and
  replace existing power supplies
• Advanced security with WPA3 and Enhanced Open to better
  protect passwords and data
• Flexible failover with
  two HPE Smart Rate Ethernet ports for 1-2.5 Gbps, offering true hitless failover
  from one port to another for both data and power
• Application assurance to guarantee stringent application performance for
  latency sensitive and high bandwidth uses by dynamically allocating and
  adjusting radio resources
• Cloud, controller, or controllerless
  operation modes to address campus, branch, and remote deployments

“Consumer appetite for
ubiquitous wireless connectivity is limitless, whether at home or traveling the
world,” said Mike Kuehn, president at Astronics CSC. “As a leading global
provider of advanced technologies for the aerospace and defense industries –
including some of the largest major airlines in the world – Aruba’s new Wi-Fi
6E AP gives us the ability to offer compelling and unique solutions that
deliver a new, enhanced and more secure wireless experience to our customers.”

“Aruba has two decades of leadership
in Wi-Fi innovations, backed by an unwavering commitment to providing our
customers with the reliable, fast, high capacity, and secure connectivity they
need to pursue and exceed their organizational objectives,” said Chuck Lukaszewski, vice president and wireless chief
technology officer at Aruba,
a Hewlett Packard Enterprise company. “Since 2016 we have helped lead the
advocacy effort that has led to the 6 GHz band being opened all over the world.
As such, we are extremely proud to be the first vendor to bring
enterprise-grade Wi-Fi 6E solutions to market so our customers can take
advantage of the huge increase in capacity that 6 GHz delivers.”

Availability

The
new Aruba 630 series AP is still under review by the Communications Authority
(OFCA). The Hong Kong market will adjust the listing time according to the
review progress.

Additional
Resources