While the WLAN switch is the hot item in enterprise Wi-Fi these days, a newcomer is challenging the notion of a centralized wireless network architecture and making a case for the “fat” access point.

Bandspeed has created a distributed WLAN management architecture targeted at small to medium enterprises that are deploying a handful of access points and can’t justify the cost of a full-fledged wireless network controller. The software and silicon platform creates a virtual controller distributed among smart access points and can scale upwards to 25 APs, but Bob Mayer, vice president of sales and marketing for Bandspeed, said the architecture is squarely targeted at the 7-AP average deployment of the majority of most businesses.

“When we looked at different architectures we decided to focus on getting the cost down,” Mayer said. “The fact that you needed a separate controller was a major cost for smaller enterprises. The only way to make that cost cheaper is through software.”

Mayer cited a Dell’Oro study that found the average cost of WLAN switch is $6000. By launching a distributed network, an enterprise would have to pay a premium for access points--roughly $500 versus the $250 for a thin AP--but the overall cost savings from eliminating the central controller would save a small enterprise around 38%, Mayer said. In addition, the architecture is designed to work with a switch if necessary, so if an enterprise does grow large enough to justify the costs of a switch, the access points can be made dumb, Mayer said.

Bandspeed was originally founded in 1998 as an IP company working in the DSL sector, but after the telecom crash, it refocused its development efforts on Wi-Fi and today is releasing its first products. Bandspeed, however, won’t be competing in the same space as Cisco Systems, Colubris Networks or Aruba Networks, but rather against their chipsets suppliers. Bandspeed is developing the silicon reference designs and software for its virtual management and smart access point architecture and licensing it out to the enterprise networking vendors. So far, Bandspeed hasn’t announced any customers, and there may be some reluctance from the major vendors to adopt its solution since it essentially bucks the WLAN switching strategies many of them have embraced. Companies like Aruba and Trapeze have all begun offering scaled-down, cheaper versions of their switches for smaller deployments. But most of those products have been geared at larger enterprises with branch and remote offices, not separate businesses themselves.

Mayer said that in its discussions with vendors, Bandspeed has found there is still a gap in their product lines they need to fill. “Based on our interactions with them, they haven’t been able to find the right solution for the small enterprise,” he said.