D-Link Announces Availability of Weatherproof 802.11ac AP

D-Link has a new 802.11ac wireless Access Point on the market, specifically for those who need connectivity in outdoor spaces. The DAP-3662 Wireless AC1200 Concurrent Dual Band Outdoor PoE Access Point (there’s a mouthful), released in late April, is according to the company website “an ideal solution for creating outdoor wireless hot spot networks in high-demand business applications.”

Here are the basic speed specs:

“The DAP-3662 delivers reliable, high-speed wireless performance using the latest 802.11ac standards with maximum wireless signal rates of up to 300 Mbps over the 2.4 GHz band, and 900 Mbps over the 5 GHz band1.”

A little slow (or perhaps a little more honest?) compared with other 802.11ac products out there, but that’s not the main feature, anyways. It’s the “IP67 weatherproof housing” that allows the AP to work in muddy, rainy conditions that D-Link is pushing as its main selling point. The AP also has Quality-of-Service (QOS), which prioritizes network traffic, and load balancing to spread users out over multiple APs in order to prevent service degradation. Integrated 802.3af Power over Ethernet (PoE) support allows for set up where power plugs aren’t available, too.

The AP network can be operated under several different modes, depending on what’s best for your situation. These are the modes offered: “Access Point, Wireless Distribution System (WDS) with Access Point, WDS/Bridge (no AP Broadcasting), and Wireless Client.” Network management can also take several forms: “Web (HTTP), Secure Sockets Layer (SSL), which provides a secure connection to the Internet, Secure Shell (SSH), which provides a secure channel between local and remote computers, and Telnet. For advanced network management, administrators can use the D-Link Central Wi-Fi Manager controller software to configure and manage multiple access points from a single location.”

In today’s threat-filled environment, security features are also a must-have. The DAP has this in abundance:

To help maintain a secure wireless network, the DAP-3662 supports both Personal and Enterprise versions of WPA and WPA2 (802.11i), with support for RADIUS server backend and a built-in internal RADIUS server allowing users to create their accounts within the device itself. This access point also includes MAC address filtering, wireless LAN segmentation, SSID broadcast disable, rogue AP detection, and wireless broadcast scheduling to further protect your wireless network. The DAP-3662 includes support for up to eight VLANs per band for implementing multiple SSIDs to further help segment users on the network. It also includes a wireless client isolation mechanism, which limits direct client-to-client communication. Additionally, the DAP-3662 supports Network Access Protection (NAP), allowing network administrators to define multiple levels of network access based on individual client’s need.

The AP currently sells for $489.99 per AP through D-Link’s various channel partners.