Juniper offers Wi-Fi hotspot-in-a-box

Juniper Networks is getting ready to launch a low-price wireless hot spot bundle, hoping to take a bite out of Cisco Systems' lead in the lucrative market for Wi-Fi network gear.

In a few weeks, networking equipment company will start selling a 'hot spot in a box' bundle targeted at telephone, broadband and mobile phone service providers that offer public Wi-Fi access. The $800 package, which will also be sold by partner Colubris Networks, includes all the hardware, software and technical know-how necessary to build a subscription wireless network inside a single cafe, hotel or restaurant.

Cisco and other rivals usually charge about $2,000 per location for gear, said Christopher Komatas, a Juniper product manager.

Competition is heating up to sell networking equipment to US-based broadband providers, mobile phone carriers and telephone companies that are trying to capitalise on the growing popularity of Wi-Fi. Wi-Fi networks create a 300-foot zone where laptops can wirelessly connect to the web or to a corporate computer network.

Cisco Systems has led in sales of Wi-Fi access points and networking equipment to these carrier customers, with Juniper staying out of the market until now. A Cisco representative would not comment on this report.

Juniper hopes to make a splash in the market by offering a Wi-Fi access bundle at half the price typically paid. The package, which includes the company's own SDX-300 Service Deployment System and access points from Colubris, uses one less piece of gear - the 'gateway' - than competing systems and costs less, Komatas said.

Carriers that build a Wi-Fi network usually need to add an electronic gateway at each public location to check that people logging onto the network are authorised. For the upcoming bundle, Juniper has added these gateway functions to its E-series line of telephone network equipment, which is currently used by Korea Telecom, Australia's Telstra and NTT Communications in Japan, among other carriers.

Major telephone and broadband providers are expected to spend even more on building Wi-Fi networks in coming years, despite the ongoing worldwide economic malaise, said Jim Ciociolo, VP Colubris Networks, the co-developer with Juniper of the hot-spot-in-a-box bundle.

"Big guys, like Verizon [Communications], are saying, 'I'm not going to lose to these little ISPs,'" he said.

Ben Charny writes for CNET News.com.