In an unusual move, two startups, Ruckus Wireless and Aruba Networks, pooled their efforts Monday to push Wi-Fi further into the mainstream, and said they expect to market jointly developed products as early as next year.
Mountain View, California-based Ruckus builds Wi-Fi systems aimed at broadband services in the home, while Sunnyvale, California-based Aruba makes systems that integrate the management and security of wireless and wired networks for businesses.
The two companies will collaborate on the development of products based on the 802.11n standard that promise to quadruple the current top speeds of Wi-Fi networks. Standards-based Wi-Fi networks currently top out at about 54 megabits per second (Mbps), but 802.11n promises speeds in excess of 200 Mbps.
The deal is unusual in that startups in the same market generally don’t share in the development of their core technology, but the two companies focus on separate markets—Ruckus in the consumer market, and Aruba in the enterprise market.
Both Silicon Valley companies also share the allegiance of market veteran Dominic Orr, who is chief executive of Aruba and chairman of the board of Ruckus. And they are also about 10 minutes away from each other, making collaboration less onerous.
Consumer Market Experience
“Standard technology will only take you so far in terms of reliability so we are partnering on Ruckus smart antenna technology that will deliver not only the high-performance capabilities of 802.11n, but deliver it in a predictable and reliable manner,” said Keerti Melkote, vice president of marketing for Aruba.
The two companies plan to cooperate on a common market they see developing as Wi-Fi matures.
“We will both address managed services in the service provider space for both enterprises and homes,” said Mr. Melkote.
Wi-Fi has emerged much more rapidly in the consumer market, which is less stringent about security and more tolerant of inconsistent performance, than is the business market.
As a result a lot of the product development, particularly at the subsystem level, has been driven by consumer Wi-Fi.
“We want to take advantage of the experience that Ruckus is going to get in the consumer space and bring that technology to the enterprise,” said Mr. Melkote.
Not Robust or Seamless, Yet
The 802.11n standard is not yet ready for prime-time product production. A report from ABI Research said the technology works well at close range, but the quality of the connection quickly diminishes at longer distances.
The report also said that “Pre-N” technology is neither as seamless nor as robust as one would like.
“We are not forcing anything in terms of the standard,” said Mr. Melkote. “We are taking steps toward making the Wi-Fi connection as reliable as the wired network.”
Four-year-old Aruba has benefited from a total of $84 million in four rounds of investment from investors such as Artis Capital Management, Matrix Partners, Sequoia Capital, Trinity Ventures, and WK Technology Fund.
Two-year-old Ruckus has taken in $14 million in two rounds from Sequoia Capital, Sutter Hill Ventures, WK Technology Fund, and Investor AB.
SutterContact the writer:CMedford@RedHerring.com