The Meraki MR16 is an enterprise class, dual-concurrent 802.11n access point designed for high-density deployments in large offices, schools, hospitals, hotels and large retail stores.  The MR16 features dual-concurrent, dual-band operation and advanced 802.11n technologies such as MIMO and beam forming, delivering the high throughput and reliable coverage required by the most demanding business applications like voice and video.

The MR16 is monitored 24×7 and managed through the Meraki Enterprise Cloud Controller, with an intuitive browser-based interface that delivers real-time alerts if your network encounters problems. Remote diagnostics tools enable real-time troubleshooting over the web, meaning multi-site, distributed networks can be managed remotely.  The MR16’s firmware is always kept up to date from the cloud.  New features, bug fixes, and enhancements are delivered seamlessly over the web, so you never have to manually download software updates or worry about missing security patches.  And it self heals, responding automatically to switch failures and other errors.

The MR16 features integrated, easy-to-use security technologies to provide secure connectivity for employees and guests alike.  Advanced security features provide wire-like security while still being easy to configure.  One-click guest isolation provides secure, Internet-only access for visitors.  The policy firewall (Identity Policy Manager) enables group-based, granular access policy control.

Despite its incredible  power  and feature set, the MR16 is  the lowest profile 802.11n access point available – at just one inch thick, it blends seamlessly into any environment.  In addition to looking great, the MR16 is earth friendly: we’ve eliminated excess packaging and documentation, and 90% of the access point materials are recyclable.  A maximum power draw of only 10.5 watts and a cloud-hosted, multi-tenant controller mean that pollution, material utilization and your electric bill are kept to a minimum.

Contact Small Business Technology Solutions, Inc., your Meraki Authorized Reseller during October to obtain a special 30% discount on the MR16 and all other Meraki products.  This offer is good on Meraki products only and expires on October 31, 2011.

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Today everyone wants to be connected, all of the time. We have become accustom to having internet access everywhere we go to keep up on emails, projects, conduct business…well and to check facebook; lets be honest. In our normal day to day life this has become routine, but what about the places we go that are outside the norm? How about an airport on the edge of town with less than perfect cell coverage, hosting an airshow with 30,000 spectators just like you? What are you going to do to keep up with your friends on facebook, or check that important email while watching the show?

That is where Small Business Technology Solutions comes in, we will bring the internet to you even in an unlikely place. SBTS is setting up a temporary large scale Wi-Fi hotspot to cover most of the grounds at this year’s Southern Wisconsin AirFEST in Janesville WI. SBTS using leading edge equipment will cover the almost 3/4 mile airport tarmac with high speed, reliable, and free WiFi. This will allow the businesses in the chalets to use their iPad’s to work on that important email, and the thousands of spectators to upload that picture of their kids in front of the fighter jet with their smartphones. This will take some stress off of the now overloaded cell towers from the influx of thousands of users for the 3 day event. For SBTS this will just be another day “outside the office”, where they help local events and expos bring affordable WiFi coverage into areas that never had any before. If your event is interested in having WiFi temporally installed , or have a location that needs a permanent connection contact Small Business Technology Solutions at 262-671-4898 or visit them online at http://www.seeus4it.com/business-solutions/wifi/.

Press Release AirFEST, event wifi, free wifi, janesville, meraki, wifi

California’s Sacramento County has moved much of its Wi-Fi networking onto a cloud management services platform and is considering adding a similar routing component to the environment.

Wi-Fi startup Meraki’s cloud service is giving the county more for its budget dollars and the management reporting depth it needs, says Joshua Voelkert, a senior IT analyst.

In 2007, the county sought change, primarily for budgetary reasons. It was running autonomous Cisco access points (AP) in about 20 of its 200 locations. At issue: the high cost and bulky design of Cisco Aironet 1230 802.11g and 1250 802.11n APs.

The county installed the 1230s and 1250s in special enclosures in certain areas, such as courtrooms, to improve their aesthetics, which made these installations even more costly.

As the network grew, the county sought a more economic alternative. The reigning Wi-Fi architecture in vogue, of course, was centralized, controller-based WLANs coupled with lightweight (managed) APs. But the county was lukewarm about that option because of the cost and “non-green” nature of controller equipment.

“We wanted to cut down on energy and capital costs, but we might have needed many [controllers] to support all our APs and still more for redundancy,” Voelkert explains.

“At the reporting end, the WLAN [controller options] required we put in more infrastructure for servers on the logging side,” Voelkert adds, explaining that the county likes to keep logs to study usage.

Meraki sells enterprise-class Wi-Fi APs that customers install locally, but hosts and maintains a WLAN controller farm in the cloud, obviating the need for buyers to purchase, install and maintain them on their own premises. Customers play a flat per-month subscription fee for the ability to access their own WLANs through a Meraki Web portal. They can thus configure, provision and manage their networks without the controller capex investment.

Voelkert says that moving to the cloud setup has yielded approximately a 45% decrease in capital expenses and about a 30% decrease in support costs.

The cloud trend is picking up: Aerohive and Aruba Networks offer similar cloud management services. And Meraki recently added a branch office routing component to the mix, which Voelkert is evaluating so he could get “a fully managed environment through a single portal.” Not to be outdone, Aerohive recently acquired Pareto Networks, a cloud routing management company, and will offer a similar option later this year.

Voelkert describes the dual-radio MR16 AP from Meraki as an “inch high, with an Apple-ish design that’s easy to hide even though it’s in plain view,” and thus requires no extra costs for special enclosures.

The county makes use of the mesh (AP-to-AP communications) capabilities of the MR16s in places where installing data network cabling is difficult or impossible. Those managing department WLANs can also use Meraki’s traffic shaping feature to manage congestion: “A department can cut a video stream to use no more than 256Kbps or 512Kbps or completely shut it off,” Voelkert says.

“A lot of departments [in Sacramento County] have not embraced wireless because of budget issues. But with Meraki, we’re able to do much more because their APs cost less,” concludes Voelkert.

Thanks Network World: http://www.networkworld.com/newsletters/wireless/2011/020711wireless1.html?page=1

Here are Small Business Technology Solutions we are your local Meraki Partner specializing in large scale Wi-Fi deployments using their technology. Contact Us today for more information on how we can help to save you money!

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iPhone finally gets Skype 2-way video chat, iPod touch and iPad also can receive video calls. Get the update at the apple store now!

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