Meraki in the News
Network World: WiFi cloud vendor: We charge 2-3 times less than Cisco, Aruba “For cost-conscious smaller enterprises lacking extensive IT expertise, the combination can offer dramatic savings. The lower costs are due to lower access point prices compared to Cisco, Aruba and other enterprise WLAN vendors, no stand-alone controllers, and no separate charges for maintenance and support. Meraki CEO and co-founder Sanjit Biswas says Meraki’s total price tag can be 2-3 times less than Cisco and Aruba for a 30-access point deployment.” 5/15/09
Meraki unveils new enterprise wireless networking solution “Known for offering one of the biggest wireless mesh networks for regular hot spot users and being the first that brought Wireless-N to the outdoors, Meraki on Monday showed that it can also mean serious business with its new enterprise class wireless local area network (WLAN) solutions.” 5/11/09
Meraki Brings Wireless into the Cloud “Wireless Networking vendor Meraki has introduced a solution that brings wireless networking infrastructure into the cloud and allows MSPs and solution …” 5/19/09
Meraki: Virtualizing the WLAN Switch “The adoption of virtualization solutions has been spotty in telecom and UC, but Meraki may have a winning angle by applying the concept to WLAN infrastructure. It seems to be a little late to get into the enterprise WLAN switch market, but this is the year when cost savings are going to be getting a lot of attention.” 5/11/09
Enterprise Wireless Goes into the Cloud, “The key differentiator is Meraki’s cloud-based approach to wireless networking, which, says Biswas, enables Meraki to offer “a premium-featured Wireless LAN at less than half the cost of solutions from traditional vendors.” 5/12/09
Meraki Goes Enterprise - With a Twist, “I’ve not done a full analysis of this product line yet, but the list of features is impressive, and, oh, yes, the price. Controller licenses are $300 per AP for three years, including support and maintenance. a/b/g/n APs are $499 (one radio) to $699 (two radios). That’s amazing.” 5/12/09
WiFi on a Budget “Needing to shave about 90 percent of that cost–and still come out with a viable solution–the school approached Meraki, a San Francisco-based wireless …” 5/14/09
Sandman Inn Goes Green with Solar WiFi Solution Vacationers in Santa Barbara have about a hundred different hotels to choose from. The Sandman Inn, which has existed on upper State Street for generations, needed more than just price to differentiate itself from the competition. Installing free wireless internet would appeal to a sizable number of clientele, but there was another market segment ripe for cornering at the same time: the green consumer.” 4/30/09
Bringing the Internet to low-income residents “Internet access for San Francisco residents in low-income housing is about much more than watching wacky animal videos on YouTube. It’s about the opportunity to search and train for jobs, help children with homework and stay connected to the rest of the community. “Kids without Internet access in high school are behind their peers,” says Michael McCarthy, community broadband manager for the San Francisco Department of Technology.” 4/1/09
Strategic IT Spending in the Downturn: Retain Tenants with WiFi. “The economy is hitting landlords it takes more effort to keep vacancy rates down, and some owners are forced to offer free months’ rent, subsidized utilities, rent reductions and more just to keep bodies in their units. of retaining the tenants you have and attracting new tenants without breaking the bank.” 3/09
How Meraki Helped Wire Up Our Green:Net Conference “One of the biggest challenges of hosting Green:Net, our sold-out conference about IT and sustainable technologies, was bringing enough bandwidth to a crowd of some 400 people. We held the event at the Golden Gate Club in San Francisco’s bucolic Presidio, surrounded by the deep blue ocean, majestic forest and equally majestic Golden Gate Bridge. It was an idyllic backdrop for an industry event aimed at those with a lot of idealism.” 3/25/09
Small NC Campuses Gain Wireless with Meraki Hardware “North Carolina’s James Sprunt Community College and Nash Community College have implemented new wireless deployments that use Meraki gear. In both cases, the colleges had small budgets and needed to outfit campuses where buildings were widely spread.” 4/23/09
Hotels Cut Costs, Go Green with Solar-Powered WiFi “Hotel guests have certain demands: cable television, a pool, or perhaps 4-star room service. Yet more likely, their primary demand is increasingly to have consistent, robust wireless internet access. Now, what if they want wireless by the pool, or in that outlying cabin surrounded by forest? What if the hotel property is in a location or country without a reliable electrical infrastructure?” 3/31/09
Networking News: Meraki Goes All In: 802.11n Triple Radio Outdoor Node Meraki has decided they’re a grown-up company, after all: Meraki started out as the little guy, with tiny $50 nodes that would self-organize into a mesh Wi-Fi network. Even as the company grew out of its origins, it still focused largely on indoor applications, where outdoor uses were an adjunct. Their new MR58, a 5 GHz triple-radio 802.11n ruggedized weatherproof outdoor node changes that entirely.” 3/12/09
San Francisco bridges the Digital Divide with Free Wifi for Low-Income Housing “AT & T has partnered with One Economy and Meraki to bring free WI-FI internet to low income communities Sunnydale Housing Authority, San Francisco’s largest low income housing project.” 3/5/09
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Meraki releases triple-radio 802.11n outdoor WiFi node “Plucky Meraki, a San Francisco mesh networking startup, is stepping up to play with the big boys with the introduction of its $1,499 MR58 WiFi router. Designed for outdoor use, the MR58 has three separate 802.11n radios each of which can be used for front-end networks or backhaul, while meshing with nearby networks. Both omnidirectional and directional antennas can be separately used with each radio.” 2/24/09
Meraki Announces $1500 “N” Node “The new Meraki MR58 ($1,499) is their latest and most powerful mesh device. The three-radio, 802.11n device is designed to build high-capacity, fast, and secure networks that cover large areas.” 2/24/09
Meraki brings Wireless-N outdoors “Though Wireless-N (an 802.11n draft standard that offers throughput speeds up to 300Mbps or faster) has been used in home and small-office routers for a long time, routers for outdoor hot spots are still mostly based on the 802.11g standard that caps at 54Mbps. This is primarily because the 802.11n hasn’t been ratified yet.” 2/24/09
Meraki Launches 802.11n Access Point “Networking startup Meraki is introducing an 802.11n access point that it said will offer businesses high throughput at low costs.
The MR58 is designed for outdoor use, is weatherproof, and has three radios that can be used for backhaul, front-end networking, and meshing with other networks. The access point can provide up to five times the capacity and speed of standard 802.11b/g devices. Meraki said it has incorporated beam-forming technology into the MR58 so users can get improved performance from their legacy devices.” 2/24/09
Meraki releases 802.11n outdoor mesh product “Meraki has just released a 3-radio 802.11n outdoor mesh product, the MR58, that provides more capacity and speed than 802.11b/g wireless nodes. The list price: $1500. In one bold move, Meraki has dropped the cost of outdoor Wi-Fi mesh equipment to $500 per radio. Meraki is the only outdoor mesh equipment vendor with an 802.11n product. None of the other vendors (Cisco, BelAir, Tropos and Firetide) has one.” 2/24/09
Wi-Fi Connections in Apartment Communities Can Help Retain Residents in Tough Economy “Wi-Fi is a top amenity request according to executives and operating staff of multifamily buildings, and 45 percent plan to increase spending on Wi-Fi in 2009, as they seek cost-effective ways to gain an edge in the down market, according to J. Turner Research.” 1/29/09
Meraki helping narrow digital divide “Wireless equipment maker Meraki is helping make universal broadband a reality.” 1/15/09
Meshing In the Cloud With Meraki “Wireless networking solution vendor, Meraki has started shipping a solar-powered Wi-Fi mesh device that, according to the manufacturer, will make wireless networks energy- independent.” 12/5/08
Dream of city Wi-Fi not dead, just smaller “What could be more greentech: broadband without wires, powered by the sun. Wi-Fi network startup Meraki said today it’s started selling its solar-powered Wi-Fi gear.” 12/4/08
Dream of city Wi-Fi not dead, just smaller “While the dreams of large-scale Wi-Fi networks have dissipated, San Francisco’s Meraki is pressing forward with its low-cost vision of wireless networking that just might pick up traction in this bad economy.” 11/21/08
Meshing In the Cloud With Meraki “I can’t think of a better application for a cloud computing platform than a Wi-Fi controller. For those of you not familiar with enterprise WiFi, controllers behave like home routers. In a wireless mesh network, the controller manages the Wi-Fi access points without having to physically connect to them.” 11/19/08
Plug-and-surf Wi-Fi module and solar-powered access point on tap from Meraki “Meraki has unveiled two products — one that fits into a electrical wall outlet, the other that runs without relying on an electrical grid at all — that make it even simpler to deploy its Wi-Fi mesh network. It also unveiled a promotional package to encourage fast, low-cost deployment of Meraki wireless networks in apartment complexes, hotels and similar multitenant sites.” 11/20/08
Start-up Meraki to sell solar-powered Wi-Fi gear “The company, which builds low-cost and easy-to-manage Wi-Fi gear, said the Meraki Solar Wi-Fi repeater will ship starting December 4. The price of the solar repeater costs between $749 and $1,499.” 11/19/08
WiFi goes green: solar-powered outdoor nodes coming soon“Mesh WiFi firm Meraki released an addition to its hardware family of routers today with a wall-plug adapter ($179). The Meraki Wall Plug, which features a hole to screw the unit to an outlet, complements the existing Indoor ($149) and Outdoor ($199) nodes. Meraki’s hardware includes access to (and requires use of) a hosted back-end management console.” 11/18/08
Mobile considers free Wi-Fi for downtown upgrade“Mobile officials are considering providing free, wireless Internet services in the downtown district, joining the ranks of other cities with free wi-fi for roving laptop users on Main Street.” 11/18/08
Second wind for muni WiFi? Mesh-networking startup hopes so “Municipal WiFi died in mid-2007 due to overinflated expectations, impossible city requirements, and the sheer limits of WiFi’s capabilities. Or did it? Meraki, a startup born out of a mesh-networking project at MIT, thinks that $10,000 and two months’ trial may change some cities’ minds as they grow a network organically in San Francisco” 11/17/08
Small startup has big plans for Wi-Fi “Meraki hopes to succeed where big players like Google have failed - getting towns to set up wide-area Internet networks.” 11/05
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Ypsi Wireless spreads the gospel “Steve Pierce founded HDL in 1987, an Internet and web consultancy headquartered in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Now living in Ypsilanti, he came to Michigan for true love; his wife moved for a job.” 10/28
Nashua frees self from Ethernet cables “There is a new, free way to surf the Web in Nashua, New Hampshire. The Greater Nashua Chamber of Commerce is working to bring free Wi-Fi to the downtown area.” 7/16
WiFi Opportunities a Bright Spot for Solution Providers “Vendor Meraki has launched a new channel program for its municipal WiFi solutions which it says compete on price and ease-of-use with Cisco and Avaya.” 10/28
Meraki teams with San Francisco for free Wi-Fi “Meraki, the San Francisco company that is providing free Wi-Fi to San Franciscans, is teaming up with the city to bring free Internet access to low-income housing projects as part of its plan to unwire every neighborhood in San Francisco.” 9/08
30 under 30, America’s Coolest Young Entreprenuers “Launched as an MIT graduate student project, this rapidly expanding company uses inexpensive WiFi routers to create cheap, grassroots wireless networks in underserved regions of India, South America, and Africa.” 9/08
Public Offering “A grass-roots wireless network is flourishing in San Francisco. How was it built? Citywide public Wi-Fi networks have had a rocky history.” 7/08
Mesh Network Creates Low-Cost Muni Wi-Fi for Kentucky Town “Prestonsburg, Ky., was hardly the first city to turn to municipal Wi-Fi in hope of spurring economic growth. Like counterparts throughout the country, local leaders figured that free wireless Internet access could help them attract new businesses.” 7/17/08
Two cities bet on wireless future “Two Downriver cities are investing in wireless Internet networks for their business districts, betting that technology will help attract young and mobile consumers to their downtowns.” 7/4/08
Meraki brings free WiFi to 100,000 San Franciscans “Months after Earthlink gave up on providing municipal wireless service in San Francisco, a company called Meraki is quietly moving forward with its plans to blanket the entire city…” 6/3/08
A Tale of Two City Wi-Fi’s “Different approaches to wireless Internet access in San Francisco and neighboring Silicon Valley are producing very different results, with one project springing up around the city and the other inching through regulatory procedures.” 6/3/08
Different sort of free Wi-Fi starts to thrive “San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom said Wednesday that citywide wireless Internet access is slowly becoming a reality despite political infighting - and that 144,000 residents will be surfing the Web for free by the end of the year …” 6/12/08
Meraki Unwires SF’s Neediest “Even if San Francisco’s high-profile, city-wide Wi-Fi network with EarthLink and Google was a fundamental flop, residents of the city that need it the most could still get some free wireless broadband.” 6/11/08
Free Public Wi-Fi in Harvard Square “The Harvard Square Business Association (HSBA) has been working in collaboration with the City of Cambridge, Harvard University, and Harvard Square Business Association members to deploy a mesh network to provide Free, Outdoor Wifi Access to the public.” 6/5/08 - Watch the video recap on Network World TV.
Meraki is offering free Wi-Fi to San Francisco. Why? “Meraki is not in the business of just blasting money out the door, which it appears to be doing in San Francisco, and there is a method to this program.” 5/15/08
The Hot Zone “Park bench or Barcalounger? For a while, it seemed as if that would soon be the biggest question for urban dwellers wanting a little Wi-Fi. Just a year ago, dozens of cities across the country” 3/21/08
Meraki Aims to Link Up a City “Meraki Inc. plans to offer free high-speed wireless Internet access throughout San Francisco this year, betting that low-cost technology and help from users will bring success where other municipal Wi-Fi projects have failed.” 1/4/08
A low-cost route to the Web “California start-up Meraki powers several thousand wireless networks across 70 countries, bringing the Internet to those who otherwise could never afford it.” 12/12/07
Meraki Mini Wins Popular Science Grand Award for Computing “With a simple $50 box, Meraki Networks hopes to spark a worldwide Wi-Fi revolution. The wireless router lets a city block, or even an entire village, share the same Internet connection.” 10/13/07
Community Wi-Fi Comes to San Francisco “This is really just a showcase to prove that grassroots groups can provide free Wi-Fi, And it’s an approach that gets a network up in a weekend rather than waiting months.” 8/14/07
Grassroots Wi-Fi Movement Spreads Around San Francisco “A grassroots movement is taking hold in San Francisco to do what the city hasn’t been able to do - provide free Wi-Fi internet connections to entire neighborhoods.” 8/15/07
MIT Technology Review A Free Mesh Network for San Francisco “Their mission is a good fit with the mission of our team: to promote competition in the Internet access space,” says Minnie Ingersoll, a product manager at Google’s Alternative Access Team. “It’s about getting more people online, giving them more choices.” 8/16/07
San Fran Finally Gets Free WiFi—But Not the Kind You’re Thinking “You can think of mesh networks as the next step after WiFi. Today, there are tens of thousands of WiFi hotspots around the world. But each one extends broadband Internet access no more than a few hundred feet. A mesh network ties these WiFi routers to each other to create a bigger network that can cover a neighborhood or even an entire city.” 06/2007
Meraki raises $5M to “connect the next billion people” “Want a dirt cheap Internet connection for everyone in your apartment building? Meraki Networks offers a way.” 2/4/07
Wireless Internet for All, Without the Towers “An intriguingly inexpensive alternative has appeared: a Wi-Fi network that is not top-down but rather ground-level, peer-to-peer. It relies not on $3,500 radio transmitters perched on street lamps by professional installers but instead on $50 boxes that serve, depending upon population density, more than one household and can be installed by anyone with the ease of plugging in a toaster.” 2/4/07
