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.

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. (Refer to Cisco Business-Ready Teleworker Solutions for more information, cisco.com/go/cvo.)

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.