What's the distinction between portability and mobility?
In terms of mobility, how is the Extricom system superior to a cell-based WLAN?
Can I be fully mobile with a voice handset that has WPA security?
Portability is the ability to establish a wireless connection when the client is located at point A or point B. Historically, Wi-Fi networks have been optimized for wireless data connectivity, which is not delay sensitive and does not require a continuous connection as the client travels from point A to point B. New applications such as voice, locationing, connectioned data applications, and streaming video, however, demand mobility - that is, a continuous and steady connection as the client moves from point A to point B.
The Extricom system eliminates AP-to-AP handoffs, thereby delivering superior performance for all clients that require seamless mobility without the delays and latency of AP handoffs.
Yes. The elimination of AP-to-AP handoffs ensures that all applications, including voice, will be fully and seamless mobile, no matter what type of security they are able to support.
Voice users, whether handsets or Vocera badges, require a steady, consistent signal in order to perform best. Transmitter power control (TPC), a mechanism often used by cell-based WLANs to counter the effects of co-channel interference and other issues, is detrimental to such voice users. The Extricom WLAN achieves its superior performance without resorting to TPC.
Once again, Extricom's advantage is the result of the absence of AP-to-AP handoffs. UMA (Unlicensed Mobile Access) systems enable a GSM cellular phone to seamlessly roam onto a Wi-Fi network and vice-versa. When the UMA phone is on a Wi-Fi network, however, it establishes a secure, encrypted tunnel to the UMA server. In any system where an AP handoff is experienced, this tunnel is severed every time the client attempts such a handoff, forcing the phone to look for the GSM network again. This is not the case for Extricom.