Residential / MDU Case Studies

Challenge

• Provide affordable, high-speed wireless to residents of a 436-unit apartment community covering 18 acres
• Limited by budget and man-power, the owner needed fast deployment and an easy-to-use management interface

Results

• Owner features “Free WiFi” in his Craigslist vacancy listings, and is attracting higher value tenants
• Owner subsidizes free access for 200 tenants by charging neighboring properties for access
• 18 acre property blanketed with reliable wireless in one day

The Full Story

Tom Weeks’ family built the sprawling Oak Creek Apartment complex in suburban Atlanta a generation ago. 436 units in total, the garden-style property consists of 37 buildings covering 18 acres.

Weeks wanted to provide his tenants with wireless internet access as a free amenity. He researched his options, including rigging together a point-to-point network using Linksys nodes. And then he discovered Meraki.

Beginning with five Meraki Outdoors connected to a DSL line in the manager’s office, Weeks says he was astounded by the coverage and instant functionality of his nascent network. “I needed something that was easy to install and manage. Honestly, the only difficulty was finding power. But the units have Power over Ethernet, the easiest thing in the world,” Weeks said. “We’ve had zero issues with any of the equipment; it was literally plug-and-play.”

Now WiFi covers the entire property; 13 Meraki Outdoors, and two Meraki Indoors serve as gateways. He keeps several extra Indoors on hand in the event a tenant experiences a weak signal, but so far, that hasn’t happened. At less than $3,000 in hardware for the entire deployment, Weeks says he just couldn’t have done it with anyone other than Meraki. “Every other scenario I looked at had significant management overhead. I didn’t want any part of that.”

Weeks now has a total of 200 registered users. Better yet, he is able to provide the service free to residents while making a return on his investment. The signal extends beyond his property line, and he offers neighbors the opportunity to pay a nominal monthly fee for access to the network. At $10 a month a growing tribe of neighbor subscribers is helping offset his capital investment.

“The response has been overwhelmingly good. Initially, I didn’t even advertise it, but it spread by word of mouth,” he says. The leasing agents who help manage the property tell Weeks the effect of free Wi-Fi on tenancy has been “absolutely amazing.” Weeks advertises Oak Creek vacancies exclusively on Craigslist and “Free WiFi” is now featured in every ad’s headline.

“It attracts better tenants who are by definition more technically savvy and sophisticated,” he said. “It is definitely a deciding factor for potential tenants, and we need every advantage we can get these days.”