TMCnet News
Stanford Computer Science Department Selects Meraki Wireless LAN, Deploys New Enterprise FeaturesSAN FRANCISCO, Dec 17, 2009 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- Meraki, the cloud-based wireless networking company, today announced that Stanford University in Palo Alto, CA, has installed Meraki wireless access points (APs) in the Gates Computer Science Building to provide reliable, high-performance wireless coverage for the growing number of laptops and WiFi-enabled devices in the building. Stanford deployed several Beta features that provided greater scalability, security, and diagnostics for Meraki's Enterprise wireless product line. Beginning today, these features are generally available to all Enterprise customers at no additional charge. (Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20091217/SF27680) The Gates Building is a 150,000 sq. ft. facility that houses roughly 550 faculty, staff, and students in Stanford's Computer Science department. Cisco APs had previously been deployed, but complaints about the wireless network's reliability grew to a fevered pitch with the start of the school year. For example, faculty members delivering their weekly presentations in the main conference room kept being interrupted by the failing wireless network. Computer Services, the IT team that supports the Gates Building, found that numerous software updates from Cisco were unable to address these issues, and the troubleshooting tools provided by Cisco were inadequate. Deciding that an immediate replacement was required, the team replaced 21 Cisco APs with 15 Meraki MR14s, which are dual-radio 802.11n APs. The entire installation took only four hours to deploy. Computer Services used Meraki's new Enterprise features to manage the Meraki network in the Gates Building. These new features, which are now generally available to all new and existing Enterprise customers at no additional cost, include the following: -- Rogue AP Detection: Improve network security by detecting nearby APs that may be spoofing SSIDs, as well as APs that may be connected to the LAN without permission. -- Network Analytics: Generate analytics reports about the usage and reliability of a Meraki wireless network, bandwidth trends, device popularity, mobility, and more. -- 16 SSIDs: Each Meraki AP can broadcast up to 16 SSIDs that are independently configurable. Administrators can use these 16 SSIDs to create different wireless networks for different groups of users and devices (e.g., guests, employees, VOIP handsets, etc.). -- Event Logging: Real-time logs offer complete visibility into where, when, and how devices connect to a Meraki wireless network, reducing troubleshooting time and providing device tracking capabilities. Miles Davis, Director of Computer Services, found Meraki's new Enterprise features to be instrumental in providing reliable coverage in the department's challenging network environment, students, faculty, visitors, and even experimental robotic devices. "We've got robots on their own network drops, along with a campus network for people who come in and out of the building all day," said Davis. "We also have people who work in the building and have wireless devices that must work all the time." Davis himself used the Rogue AP Detection feature to find the remaining Cisco APs that still needed to be disabled and removed. In addition, he used Event Logging to save time providing help desk support. Davis also posted a portion of his Network Analytics report to his blog, sharing the breakdown of wireless devices in the Stanford Computer Science department. The Apple iPhone was the most popular device, at 34.3% of all clients. Following the iPhone was Mac OS X, at 26.8%, and Windows XP and Vista, at 27.8%. "Having a wireless network just work is kind of refreshing," he said. About Meraki Meraki offers enterprise-class wireless networks at a fraction of the cost and complexity of traditional networking vendors. This is made possible by its unique cloud-based technology. The company's customers range from small and medium-sized businesses to global hotel chains to world-class educational institutions. Meraki wireless networks serve millions of users on over 13,000 networks in more than 140 countries. Meraki is located in San Francisco, California, and is funded in part by Sequoia Capital and Google. Follow Meraki on Facebook and Twitter. For more information, go to www.meraki.com. SOURCE Meraki http://www.meraki.com |