Digi International has introduced the Connect Wi-SP, claimed to be the industry's first 802.11b wireless LAN device server featuring WPA2 and 802.11i security that is also fully backwards-compatible with the WPA standard. The Digi Connect Wi-SP is also said to be the industry's most secure wireless device connectivity system and is said by the company to be suitable for retail, warehouse, healthcare and medical applications. It enables customers to connect virtually any serial device and securely collect, track, measure, monitor and control critical device information through an organisation's wireless LAN infrastructure.

Steve Ericson, director of product management at Digi International, said: 'Whenever sensitive and business-critical data is involved, network security is a key requirement.

Choosing a secure and standards-based wireless product allows the confident deployment of wireless technology without the potential risks or concerns previously associated with wireless.

Other products only offer consumer-grade security, such as WEP or WPA-PSK encryption.

The Digi Connect Wi-SP device server provides enterprise-class WPA2 and 802.11i compliant wireless security through advanced AES encryption for complete data privacy and secure mutual authentication services.' Built on NetSilicon 32-bit NET+ARM technology, the Digi Connect Wi-SP wireless device server is a plug-and-play device networking product that combines the flexibility and productivity improvements of secure wireless networking technology with proven serial port connectivity, said Digi.

It provides product integration and customisation flexibility, such as user interface private labelling and customer-specific factory defaults and features, a compact design, input power flexibility and a fully switch-selectable RS-232/422/485 high-speed serial interface.

The Digi Connect Wi-SP also offers a claimed easy-to-use web user interface, product customisation options and intelligent remote management and monitoring capabilities through the Digi Connectware Manager device management software.

It also provides standard network management interfaces including SNMP.

Ericson added: 'The Digi Connectware Manager platform can significantly reduce administrative maintenance costs.

It enables customers to diagnose and immediately address problems from a central data centre, thus reducing trips to remote locations for device maintenance.

Digi Connectware Manager also saves time by reporting problems in the field rather than using a dedicated administrator to constantly monitor devices on the network.'