Broadcom, HP and Linksys Team Up for Wi-Fi Installation

Broadcom Corporation, HP (www.hp.com), and Linksys® (www.linksys.com), a division of Cisco Systems, Inc., today announced a new technology that is expected to revolutionize Wi-Fi® installation and stimulate the development and deployment of new classes of wireless products for home networks.

The three companies have collaborated to promote SecureEasySetup™, which enables consumers to effortlessly setup their wireless networks and activate Wi-Fi Protected Access™ (WPA™) security by simply pushing a button. Linksys and HP plan to offer the first Wi-Fi products with the new push-button solution that is powered by Broadcom® SecureEasySetup software and 54g™ chipsets.

Traditional wireless LAN installation can be a complicated and time-consuming task, requiring the user to possess the technical know-how to manually enter several settings (such as network name, and encryption key or WPA pass phrase) on each Wi-Fi device.

Push-button configuration makes Wi-Fi practical for a variety of new platforms and devices. Manual Wi-Fi installation requires the use of a keyboard and/or display, making it difficult to configure non-PC devices.

"Enabling secure, wireless networking is a unifying element across HP's product portfolio and the foundation of our vision of the digitally-connected home," said Gregg Patterson, Vice President of Solutions and Technology, for the Consumer Imaging & Printing organization at HP.

By contrast, the complexities of traditional configuration have caused as many as 75 percent of current home users to ignore the security features built into their Wi-Fi products.

The SecureEasySetup push-button eliminates the manual pass phrase entry that was previously required to enable WPA security on each wireless device. Instead, the software automatically establishes the system's WPA pass phrases (also known as keys) while it configures a new network and installs those keys on each new device that is authorized to join the network.

WPA is a standards-based security feature built into all Wi-Fi CERTIFIED™ products. Driven by the Wi-Fi Alliance, WPA provides robust encryption and authentication techniques for Wi-Fi networks. WPA is the strongest security feature available on Wi-Fi Certified devices for home wireless LANs, encrypting data and limiting network access to devices with matching passwords.