The networking giant may soon be the wireless giant as well, at least when it comes to wireless LAN (WLAN) deployment solutions. Cisco's Catalyst 6500 switch wireless modules, including the Wireless Services Module (WiSM) and the older Wireless LAN Services Module (WLSM), earned our gold medal in wireless LAN switches.

The Cisco WiSM integrates into existing Cisco Catalyst 6500 Series enterprise networks. It scales to deliver secure, enterprise wireless access to main, branch and remote campuses. It is designed for midsized and large enterprise facilities with clustering capabilities of up to 3,600 lightweight access points per roaming domain, and it can scale to 300 lightweight access points per module with support for 10,000+ wireless client devices.

In addition, network managers can benefit from standards-based features, including mobile virtual private networks, a WLAN intrusion prevention system, network access control, and real-time Wi-Fi tracking.

Representing a big plus, according to survey respondents, are the administration features that allow network administrators to deploy robust yet easy-to-manage security across the network.

"A great product that really answers the call," one user said. "It is a product that we can count on every day without fail."

The majority of respondents to the Product Leadership Awards survey rated the product good or excellent in all criteria. When it came to security, ability to interoperate with the overall network, and ease of installation and configuration, the product was rated good or excellent by almost 75% of respondents.

Cisco made considerable strides in the WLAN market in 2005, with a nod to its $450 million acquisition of WLAN switch startup Airespace last January. The networking giant has held the top spot in the WLAN equipment market for some time, and the latest WLAN market report from Infonetics Research found that Cisco is closing the gap with wireless switch market leader Symbol Technologies.

Kara Gattine, Managing Editor