HPE Aruba Networking introduces high-capacity Wi-Fi 7 access points to improve enterprise security, address AI and IoT challenges

Hewlett Packard Enterprise (NYSE: HPE) has launched Wi-Fi 7 access points (APs) that provide up to 30% more capacity for wireless traffic than competitive products. The new APs also strengthen network security and improve location-based services to provide connectivity for demanding enterprise AI, Internet of things (IoT), location, and security applications.

As a market leader in enterprise wireless, and 18-time Leader in Gartner Magic Quadrant for Enterprise Wired and Wireless LAN Infrastructure, HPE Aruba Networking continues its innovation with new Wi-Fi 7 APs that exceed the requirements of the standard. This performance is achieved with HPE’s patented ultra tri-band hardware technology, which fully utilises the 5GHz and 6GHz bands to automatically and continuously eliminate wasteful contention between the bands.

“With more than two decades of Wi-Fi innovation leadership, HPE Aruba Networking continues our commitment to delivering customers the reliable, secure, high-performance connectivity they need to meet their business objectives, which can range from immersive fan experiences to automated manufacturing processes,” said Stuart Strickland, wireless chief technology officer, HPE Aruba Networking. “Our Wi-Fi 7 APs go far beyond improvements in performance and efficiency to become an intelligent IoT hub, securing the network, distributing the workload, characterising the environment, and providing a foundation for business and operational analytics.”

The new HPE Aruba Networking APs, managed by HPE Aruba Networking Central, eliminate the need to deploy an IoT network overlay by providing built-in hardware support for a wide range of IoT protocols such as Zigbee and Bluetooth, or through dual USB interfaces. The APs also provide a secure connectivity platform for the increase in IoT devices organisations are deploying at the network edge, such as cameras, motor sensors, energy sensors and motion detectors.

As IoT devices offer a rich source of data for AI training and inferencing, an extensive ecosystem of business solutions from over 350 HPE technology partners can help organisations efficiently capture, secure, transport and leverage IoT-sourced data to deliver real-time business insights, along with helping build their AI data lakes. With these innovations, this data can be used to train and activate their AI models for solutions such as predictive maintenance, digital twins, and personalised customer user experiences.

“Optimised connectivity is now mission critical and customers always want to make smart investments in their wireless infrastructure, considering the need to future-proof the network and provide desired business outcomes,” said Chris DePuy, principal analyst at 650 Group.

“With the huge growth in IoT devices, demand for ubiquitous security, and the need for backward compatibility to accommodate legacy devices, Wi-Fi 7 provides the processing power, flexibility, speed, reliability and capacity that today’s enterprises are looking for when making network upgrade decisions.”

With the debut of the HPE Aruba Networking 730 Series Campus APs, enterprises can maximise the value of their wireless investments with features that include:

•      More Wi-Fi performance for demanding use cases: UTB filtering eliminates channel interference on adjacent channels in 5GHz and 6GHz bands, maximising performance and capacity, giving organisations the flexibility to use both bands simultaneously.
•      Enhanced wireless security: Policy-based access control and Layer 7 application firewalls build upon a foundation of security-first wireless features such as HPE Aruba Networking Central Client Insights for improved IoT visibility and automated Dynamic Segmentation to deliver role-based access for users and IoT devices. Additional features include new link level encryption (MACsec**) capabilities, which extend wired data protection to the AP, and a personal wireless network mode that provides secure, self-service onboarding of user devices in group environments such as college campuses.
•      Eliminate IoT Overlay Networks: HPE Aruba Networking Central’s IoT Operations dashboard streamlines device onboarding and eliminates high-overhead vendor-specific IoT overlay networks, allowing APs to act as a connector and local processing element for IoT devices to communicate directly with third-party IoT services.
•      Wider support for IoT protocols: Dual dedicated Bluetooth and Zigbee radios provide support for high-density IoT environments, and dual USB ports provide robust connectivity for a broad range of IoT devices using proprietary protocols. The AP’s integrated, non-permanent external antennas are designed for challenging radio frequency (RF) environments.
•      AP as a data processing solution: The HPE Aruba Networking 730 Series APs feature twice as much SDRAM and Flash memory than previous HPE models, enabling application-specific containers to run on the APs themselves, resulting in streamlined data transmissions and local processing of data for more rapid response to real-time conditions such as temperature or motion.
•      Precision location services: The HPE Aruba Networking 730 Series Aps are also the first to leverage the new Wi-Fi location standard, for improved location-aware services that deliver precision within one meter, for real-time, immersive, and industrial use cases, as well as support for the IEEE 802.11az standard to help enable self-location networks. Additional features include a Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) receiver and a barometric sensor for floor-level mapping, which incorporate Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) 5.4 for bi-directional IoT location data that can boost user engagement and track valuable assets to reduce loss.
•      Sustainability and energy savings: An AI-powered, dynamic power save mode helps lower energy footprint and costs for enterprises.

The HPE Aruba Networking 730 Series Access Points will be generally available globally in July 2024, and includes a limited lifetime warranty. Management of the HPE Aruba Networking 730 Series Campus APs is via HPE Aruba Networking Central, available as a subscription. In addition to being a standalone SaaS offering, HPE Aruba Networking Central is also included as part of an HPE GreenLake (NaaS) subscription and is available through the HPE GreenLake edge-to-cloud platform.