Instead of joining one side of the fat vs. thin debate, Foundry is playing both sides: Foundry already offers a so-called "fat" AP, which handles some authentication and encryption functions. In March, Foundry will offer a software upgrade that turns the fat APs into thin APs, turning off some of those functions. Instead, the thin AP will take direction from a switch. Foundry, like Extreme, also offers an upgrade to its switches so that they can intelligently handle wireless networks in addition to wired LANs.