The Cisco^® 880G Series Integrated Services Router with the embedded third-generation (3G) wireless WAN (WWAN) and dual radio 802.11n wireless LAN (WLAN) capabilities option provides secure high-speed wireless WAN and LAN connectivity to small businesses, enterprise small branch offices, and teleworker sites (Figure 1). Transparently integrated into the enterprise-class feature set available on the Cisco 880 Series, 3G, and WiFi wireless connectivity allows for rapid installation, deployment flexibility, and resilient mobile broadband backhaul for primary, WAN backup, and WiFi LAN.

Product Overview

Cisco 880 Series Integrated Services Routers are the next generation of fixed-configuration routers that provide collaborative business solutions for secure data communication to small businesses and enterprise teleworkers. The embedded 3G wireless on these routers offers a cost-effective, rapidly deployable, reliable, and secure backup solution. With data rates exceeding T1 speeds, 3G wireless can be used for primary WAN connectivity in locations where wire-line services such as DSL and ISDN are not available or are too expensive to deploy.

The Cisco 880G Series Integrated Services Routers support the latest 3G standards (Evolved High-Speed Packet Access [HSPA+] and Evolved Data Optimized Revision A [EV-DO Rev A]) and are backward-compatible with High-Speed Packet Access (HSPA), Universal Mobile Telecommunications Service (UMTS), Enhanced Data Rates for Global Evolution (EDGE), General Packet Radio Service (GPRS), and EV-DO Rev 0/1xRTT. The Cisco 880G Series has two variants (refer to Table 1 for part numbers):

●   Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) and UMTS models are based on the Third-Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), and they support 3.7G HSPA+, 3.5G HSPA (Evolved High-Speed Packet Access HSPA+/HSPA]), UMTS, EDGE, and GPRS.

●   Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) models are based on 3GPP2, and they support EV-DO Rev A/Rev 0 and 1xRTT.

In addition to 3G wireless WAN, the Cisco 880G Series offers additional WAN options such as Next-Generation xDSL and Fast Ethernet WAN interface, a 4-port 10/100 Fast Ethernet managed switch with VLAN support and the latest 802.11n WLAN* capability with dual radio. The Cisco 880 Series provides the performance required for concurrent services, including firewall, intrusion prevention, content filtering, and encryption for VPNs; and quality-of-service (QoS) features for optimizing voice and video applications. In addition, Cisco Configuration Professional is a web-based configuration tool that simplifies setup and deployment. Centralized management capabilities give network managers visibility and control of the network configurations at the remote site.

Businesses are looking for ways to reduce costs, increase revenue, and improve business continuity. Third-generation wireless connectivity allows a small enterprise branch office or remote office to set up in a matter of hours, without worrying about availability of broadband services and the need for laying down the lines. Wireless carriers offer flexible, usage-based data plans that can be catered to meet the needs and price points of the business customer. As a WAN backup alternative, 3G wireless offers greater WAN diversity and resiliency because it is independent of the local terrestrial infrastructure. It enables businesses to stay productive during service provider downtime or a network failure.

The dual 802.11a/b/g/n 2X3 MIMO inbuilt Access Point (AP) in the Cisco 880(G)W , comes with Cisco’s CleanAir technology, Industry’s first to create a self-healing, self-optimizing wireless network. Moreover, with the advantage of dual radio, the Cisco AP can serve both as an AP and as a client to a wireless mesh network concurrently: Hence providing another source for WAN diversity along with GE interface, cellular. Additionally, the ClientLink feature on the AP improves reliability and coverage for legacy devices and the capability to do dynamic frequency selection (DFS) allows detecting and avoiding interfering with radar signals to comply with regulatory domains.

Key Business Benefits

Applications

The Cisco 880G Series is ideal for deployment by small businesses, retail locations, small branch offices that are part of a large enterprise network, and a host of other deployments that need high-speed wireless connectivity and secure data, voice, and wireless services.

Small Remote Office

The Cisco 880G Series connects users in small remote offices, such as those for insurance agents, lawyers, or sales, to the main office. You can use the integrated 3G wireless backup option for added reliability when the primary broadband link fails, or as the primary connection for deployments that are portable, such as insurance adjustment, mobile banking, and mobile retail. When connecting to the main office, VPN encryption and integrated security features such as firewall and intrusion prevention protect the network at every perimeter. IT managers can centrally manage the remote site to quickly troubleshoot network problems. Integrated secure unified WLAN connectivity simplifies the deployment and management of devices at the remote site.

Virtual Office

The Cisco 880G Series is ideal for corporate teleworkers, who might have a mix of broadband connection types such as DS, 3G, and Ethernet. The Cisco 880G Series provides a secure virtual office with all the collaborative services such as data, voice, and video. Redundant WAN links help ensure business continuity. QoS features in the Cisco 880 Series allow you to connect an IP phone to the router, giving voice traffic precedence over data applications. Integrated WLAN support in the Cisco 880 Series helps ensure that if you use wireless connectivity, the connection will be secure.

Retail VPN

Retail stores migrating from dialup connections for point-of-sale transactions can use the 3G wireless option on the Cisco 880G Series for low-cost broadband access with the required security to comply with payment-card-industry (PCI) and other data security requirements. Then they can add multiple devices and applications to the store network to take advantage of the increased bandwidth and also incorporate optional WLAN support to enable secure mobility and enhance productivity.

Managed Services

Service providers and value-added resellers can use the Cisco 880G Series as a platform to offer differentiated business-class security and WLAN services for small to medium-sized business customers. Superior management capabilities such as Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) support with 3G MIB and Cisco Configuration Professional make remote management and provisioning easier.

Key Features and Benefits

●   Embedded cellular modem with 3.7G HSPA+ Release 7: The new 3GPP HSPA+ Release 7 supporting 21.1 Mbps on downlink and 5.76 Mbps on uplink is capable of demanding multimedia applications such as large files data transfer and video streaming.

●   Embedded cellular modem with Short Message Service (SMS) and Global Positioning System (GPS): The router supports a new standalone GPS feature, a native SMS (send and receive) gateway, remotely initiated data call-back using SMS, and 3G WWAN MIB persistence with more than 300 MIB objects.

●   Dual Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) support for HSPA+/HSPA platforms

●   Embedded 3G WWAN broadband: With the 3G WWAN modem embedded into the router, you gain the benefit of simplified installation and management. In addition, the Cisco 3G WWAN modems are tightly integrated and embedded with Cisco integrated services routers, which run the industry-leading Cisco IOS^® Software, giving you access to all the advanced features of Cisco IOS Software such as QoS, intelligent network queuing, and robust security. Utilizing common and consistent embedded cellular platforms architecture across next-generation Cisco 880G product family and modular Cisco Integrated Services Routers Generation 2 (ISR G2) platforms.

●   Next-generation Cisco 880G WWAN product family: The Cisco 880 3G router has a new chassis design with improved air flow, a received-signal-strength-indication (RSSI) LED status bar, and a 3G service LED with no moving parts (fanless on Cisco 881 and 880 WLAN Series models) while maintaining the same form factor. The routers have common and built-in TNC connectors for external MAIN, diversity, GPS, cable, and antenna accessories.

●   Short installation time: Businesses sometimes wait for weeks or months to get data circuits installed at new locations. For temporary or seasonal sites, wireless data services allow instant connectivity anywhere there is cellular coverage, and rapid deployment allows you to quickly set up networks with WAN connectivity.

●   Network resiliency through WAN diversity: WAN connectivity is crucial to the functioning of your business, and any downtime means a loss of productivity and lost opportunity. Staying connected and operational during a network outage can be vital. A wireless connection for backup to a remote site provides protection against line outages and an additional level of redundancy because the 3G WWAN infrastructure is often served by separate facilities, providing redundancy for the entire local loop.

●   Reduced cost: The emerging 3G WWAN cellular data service plans are competitively priced with existing wire-line services (ISDN, DSL, and cable). 3G WWAN solutions also allow you to consolidate your service providers across large geographical areas instead of having service contracts with multiple service providers.

●   Portability: You can easily relocate the Cisco 880 with 3G WWAN wherever coverage is available.

●   Performance: With increasing data usage and the proliferation of web-based applications at remote sites, there is an increasing need for high-speed (broadband) data connections to run mission-critical applications at these sites. Third-generation WWAN services promise low-latency links at speeds exceeding T1 connections, allowing you to send and receive more mission-critical data across the WAN in backup scenarios.

●   Building on the Cisco Aironet heritage of RF excellence, the AP 802 Series delivers industry-leading performance for secure and reliable connections. Enterprise-class silicon and optimized radios deliver a robust mobility experience using Cisco M-Drive technology, which includes:

◦     improves reliability and coverage for legacy clients

◦     improves 5-GHz client connections in mixed client environments

◦     uses multicast to improve rich-media applications

●   All of these features help ensure the best possible end-user experience on the wireless network

●   Cisco also offers the industry's broadest selection of  delivering optimal coverage for a variety of deployment scenarios. The AP 802 is a component of the Cisco Unified Wireless Network, which can scale up to 18,000 access points with full Layer 3 mobility across central or remote locations on the enterprise campus, in branch offices, and at remote sites. For more information, please refer to Cisco 3500 Access Point detail specification 

●   The Cisco Integrated Services Router G2 (ISR G2) Family delivers numerous security services, including firewall, intrusion prevention, and VPN. These security capabilities have been extended with Cisco ISR Web Security with Cisco ScanSafe for a web security and web filtering solution that requires no additional hardware or client software. Cisco ISR Web Security with Cisco ScanSafe enables branch offices to intelligently redirect web traffic to the cloud to enforce granular security and acceptable use policies over user web traffic. With this solution, you can deploy market-leading web security quickly and easily to protect branch office users from web-based threats, such as viruses, while saving bandwidth, money, and resources.

●   Cisco WAN optimization system consists of WAAS Express* (WE) routers and Wide-area Application Engines (WAEs) that work together to optimize TCP traffic in your network. When client and server applications attempt to communicate with each other, the network intercepts the traffic and acts on behalf of the client application and the destination server. The WE and WAEs examine the traffic and use built-in application policies to determine whether the traffic in the network can be optimized.

* WAAS Express support for cellular 3G/4G and WiFi will be available in Q3CY2013