Connect802
is a nationwide Meraki wireless network
equipment reseller providing Meraki system
design consulting, equipment configuration,
and Meraki installation services. |
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The
Meraki System
Meraki
offers a hosted management solution
where Meraki 802.11b/g and 802.11n
indoor and outdoor access points
are centrally managed across
the Internet by a management
application hosted on a server
at a Meraki data center
Buy
Meraki hosted WLAN management
and Meraki 802.11g and Meraki
80211n indoor and outdoor access
points from Connect802 to Take
Advantage of our Wi-Fi Design
and Consulting Experience |
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The
Meraki Value Proposition |
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Meraki's
Solution to High-Cost Managed Wi-Fi
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 Why
you will choose Meraki: |
There
are several core reasons why a Meraki
Cloud Controller centrally managed
wireless LAN system will be the right
choice for your deployment. These include:
You'll choose Meraki as your Wi-Fi
solution if you want an easy-to-manage
and control system but you don't
have resources to dedicate to configuring
and managing your own centralized
wireless LAN controller or you don't
need the kind of custom configuration
and support options offered by Connect802
for a client-owned, on-site controller.
There is some very straightforward
up-front configuration that must
be performed using the management
interface on the hosted controller
server. You log in, you create a
site name, assign one or more network
names (SSIDs), setup WPA or other
security, put in the serial numbers
of your access points and, if you're
using the HotSpot captive portal
to give your users a login page then
you'll make some simple decisions
about how the page should look. Connect802
recognizes that any first-time Meraki
buyer will have questions and our
basic Installation Support Service
is always included for first-time
buyers.
You'll choose Meraki if you have a number of small, geographically
separate sites (like franchise retail
stores, gas stations, courtyard and
swimming pool areas in multiple apartment
complexes, single-family home rental
properties). You need to provide
managed Internet access for these
sites with a single, central management
control system. The Meraki Pro Cloud
Controller hosted control software
option allows you to do this without
any additional hardware cost (i.e.
you don't have to buy any type of
controller) and there are no limits
on how many access points you can
manage in this model. (Note that
the Enterprise Cloud Controller,
required for 802.11n, does have a
small, per-access-point annual licensing
fee of less than $10.00 per month).
You'll choose Meraki as your Wi-Fi
wireless LAN solution if you don't
want to invest in a dedicated, on-site
wireless LAN controller because there
are features and capabilities that
owning your own controller provide
that are either not needed or can't
be cost-justified. A Meraki system
is very competitively priced. There
is no additional cost for a hardware
controller (as is the case for EVERY
other wireless LAN switch system
including Aruba, Ruckus, Motorola,
Cisco, Proxim/ORiNOCO and others).
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| How
you will decide that Meraki provides
the best solution: |
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The
Meraki "Process of Elimination"
To
decide on implementing a Meraki solution
you have to assure yourself that
the scope and depth of access point
hardware and management system software
features are sufficient for your
application. If they are, then you
won't find a more cost-effective
solution on the market. If the Meraki
solution doesn't provide you with
features or capabilities that you
need then, as with any solution,
"if it doesn't work then it doesn't
matter how inexpensive it is."
Confirm Your Antenna Requirements
and the Resulting Coverage Patterns
The Meraki solution
provides low-cost conventional
802.11b/g and 802.11n access points
with no integrated high-gain antennas.
For example, the Meraki Outdoor,
Meraki Indoor and Meraki Wall Plug
come with a 2 dB omnidirectional
antenna. The Meraki Indoor and
Meraki Wall Plug radios have a
maximum 60 mW power output and
the Meraki Outdoor radio does not
use standard 802.3af power-over-Ethernet
(which means it can't be powered
from a conventional 802.3af Ethernet
switch - each Meraki Outdoor radio
comes with the proprietary Meraki
power adapter which DOES allow
the radio to be powered across
the Cat5 Ethernet data cable but
only to distance of roughly 150
feet as opposed to 328 feet for
802.3af PoE).
Confirm the Required Scope and Depth
of Configuration and Management Capabilities
You
must have a stable Internet connection.
Each Meraki access point must have
a way to connect through the Internet
to a Meraki hosted control server
at a Meraki data center. All configuration
and control is handled by the hosted
control server. There is no provision
for configuring or accessing any
management or control features in
individual access points locally
(i.e. you can't login to an access
point locally and configure or test
it. The access point has no web UI
and no Telnet or command-line access
- all control comes through the hosted
server).
Confirm Your Requirements and Resources
for User Login Page Implementation
If you're planning to use the HotSpot
captive portal login web page to
offer Internet connectivity to the
public then you'll have to implement
your own end-user support system.
Meraki and Connect802 provide technical
support for the Wi-Fi network itself
(operation, configuration, troubleshooting,
etc.) but no direct support for end-users
trying to connect to the Internet
through the network. A Meraki network
provides a built-in captive portal
web page but cannot integrate with
any third-party access control gateway
(i.e. Aptilo, Pronto, Nomadix, ValuePoint,
etc.)
When Your Project Requirements Can
Be Met With a Meraki Solution It
Becomes the Most Cost-Effective Solution
The key deciding factors in favor
of a Meraki solution are a need
for WLAN management and monitoring
without the need to implement or
manage special WLAN configurations
using your own dedicated WLAN controller
or other 3rd-party WLAN add-in
hardware (like access control gateways,
firewalls, etc.) Meraki gives you
a solid, core set of management
and configuration options. There
is no mechanism for you to extend
or enhance what is provided by
the manufacturer. This is an ideal
situation for saving money while
still getting a solid WLAN management
system and easy deployment but
may not suffice for every enterprise-class
WLAN deployment.
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| Where
you will see the greatest value with
Meraki wireless: |
You
want centralized WLAN management
to make deploying your network easy.
You want to be able to monitor the
performance of your network, receive
email alerts if equipment goes down,
and manage your end-user community.
You may want to give your users a
web login page or even Hotspot subscription
Wi-Fi.
You want all
of the above but you don't have dedicated
IT or wireless engineering resources
to commit to the project and you
don't have a budget that will allow
you to engage Connect802 to perform
all of the services for you. Moreover,
you don't have a budget that will
allow you to invest in a dedicated
wireless LAN controller or server
appliance.
If this describes
your project then Meraki is a perfect
solution. You get the management and
control, ease of deployment and user
login screen but you don't need to
spend money on a dedicated wireless
LAN controller or the IT support
necessary to keep it working properly. |
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| When
you are ready to buy a Meraki solution: |
Ready
to buy a Meraki system? ...just give
Connect802 a call and ask for Sales,
or email to sales@connect802.com.
Our pricing is always at least 5%
below the full retail prices you'll
find on the Web and you won't find
anyone more willing to work with
you to design and specify your network
system. We'll be happy to schedule
a no-cost, no-obligation phone meeting
to talk about your project.
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Meraki
Equipment and Software Details |
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DOWNLOAD DATA SHEET |
Meraki
Outdoor Access Point
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DOWNLOAD
DATA SHEET |
Meraki
Indoor Access Point
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DOWNLOAD
DATA SHEET |
Meraki
Wall Plug Access Point
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DOWNLOAD
MR11 DATA SHEET
DOWNLOAD
MR14 DATA SHEET |
Meraki
MR11 Single-Radio, Dual-Band 802.11a/b/g/n
Access Point
Meraki MR14 Dual-Radio, Dual-Band
802.11a/b/g/n Access Point
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DOWNLOAD
DATA SHEET |
Meraki
MR58 3-Radio, Dual-Band
802.11a/b/g/n Outdoor Access Point
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DOWNLOAD
DATA SHEET |
The
Meraki Solar Solution
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[Data sheet not available] |
Meraki
Pro Controller Hosted Management System
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DOWNLOAD
DATA SHEET |
Meraki
Enterprise Controller Hosted Management
System
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Meraki
150' Power-Over-Ethernet (PoE) Injector
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Targeted
Discussion For Meraki Access Points
and the Meraki Hosted Management
Solution
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| You'll
find numerous Web references and
reviews for Meraki. Below are some
targeted discussions to provide you
with additional perspective on how
a Meraki solution can be implemented
to meet your requirements for a secure,
easy-to-manage wireless LAN system. |
| From
Network World, May 2009
The company [Meraki] is best known
for creating cheap, easy deployed,
neighborhood Wi-Fi networks, using
a mesh technology called RoofNet,
originally developed at MIT. The
new enterprise products are two indoor
802.11n access points, and cloud-based
configuration, management and security
services. In effect, Meraki makes
the conventional WLAN controller
a service accessible via any Web
browser.
That means Meraki devices can be
plugged in, turned on, provisioned
and configured largely automatically.
Enterprise network administrators
can log in via a Web browser to Meraki's
hosted service to modify settings,
troubleshoot any problems, and perform
a range of management tasks.
I find it intriguing: you can get
most of the capabilities of the traditional
enterprise-class products at a fraction
of the cost," says Paul DeBeasi,
senior analyst for wireless and mobility
at Burton Group, the Midvale, Utah
technology research firm. "You
can manage it yourself or someone
in the Meraki channel can offer it
as a managed service. I think Meraki
will get some traction if it [really]
works."
The new products will be demonstrated
next week at Interop. Additional
information is on the Meraki website.
The new access points are slim white
boxes, just over 1.5 inches thick
and slightly bigger than a folded
sheet of paper:
MR11: 1-radio 802.11a/b/g/n access
point, radio can be set to either
2.4 or 5 GHz bands, maximum data
rate of 300Mbps using 2 radio streams
(a "2x2" MIMO configuration),
802.3af PoE, integrated omni-directional
antennas, 10/1000 Base-T Ethernet,
support for the full panoply of enterprise
security protocols and standards,
including WPA2, TKIP and AES, 802.1x
and VLAN tagging; 802.11e QoS. Price:
about $600
MR14: identical in all respects
except it has two radios, which can
run at the same time on either band,
for a total data rate of 600Mbps.
Price: about $800.
The Meraki Enterprise Cloud Controller
service is available for either $150
per access point for a 1-year license,
or $300 per access point for the
term of a 3-year license, including
support.
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.
The price points are "astonishingly
low," writes Craig Mathias,
in his "Nearpoints" blog
for Network World. "One might,
of course, question putting a key
element of one's WLAN on the other
side of the Internet, but the [Meraki]
Enterprise Cloud Controller is really
more of the management plane than
the control plane, and no user data
flows through this service regardless."
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- Meraki Pro Controller
- Meraki Value Proposition
- Meraki Design Consulting
- Purchase Meraki Equipment
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- Meraki Hosted Solution
- Meraki Equipment Reseller
- Meraki Nationwide Installation
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