Aerohive Aims To Expand 802.11ax Lineup In Next Year’s Second Or Third Quarter

Aerohive Networks, which has been the first to market with access points on the high-performance 802.11ax standard, is planning to expand from products for the high end of the market to the low end as soon as the second quarter of 2019, an Aerohive executive told CRN.

The successor to 802.11ac, the 802.11ax standard is meant to dramatically improve Wi-Fi efficiency. Shipments of Aerohive 802.11ax access points launched in the U.S. in late July. The company's products are 100 percent sold by partners.

[Related: Juniper Networks Will Sell Aerohive Wi-Fi Products In New Sales Pact]

Milpitas, Calif.-based Aerohive says that its 802.11ax access points can provide strong performance to a far higher density of users than access points using previous standards, thanks in part to new channel-sharing capabilities.

Ben Moebes, vice president of Americas channels at Aerohive, told CRN in an interview that the company is looking to round out its 802.11ax portfolio by the second quarter or third quarter of 2019. The timing will depend in part on the availability of processors from Broadcom, which is supplying chips for the 802.11ax access points.

"Things always come out first for the high end, but that doesn't cover the majority of the market," Moebes said.

The lower end is "where the volumes take place,” he said.

Aerohive is planning to make full use of its first-to-market advantage in developing 802.11ax access points for the mainstream market, Moebes said.

"Being the first to market allows us to learn," he said. "We can be learning and optimizing before anyone else has the chance."

David Black, president of Insource Technology, a Houston-based partner of Aerohive, said that being first to market in 802.11ax is a big deal.

The 802.11ax standard is "the most major innovation to hit the 802.11 space since the beginning really," Black said. "It solves a problem that's been escalating for many years now. We just have too many access points, too many devices, too many networks, and the current protocol just did not anticipate that scenario. And it's overwhelmed as a result. So we really need something new."

Aerohive's 802.11ax offerings are particularly ideal for high-density environments such as university auditoriums and convention centers, Black said.

The expansion by Aerohive to round out its 802.11ax portfolio means it's "going to be an exciting year," he said.

"We're going to get right out there with Aerohive and ride the wave," Black said.