Meru Announces Two New 2x2 802.11ac Access Points -- Including the
World's First Gigabit Wi-Fi Wall Plate
Wi-Fi Leader's Expanded 802.11ac Portfolio Sets New Industry
Benchmarks for Deployment Flexibility and Price/Performance
SUNNYVALE, CA--(Marketwired - Mar 31, 2014) - Meru Networks®
(NASDAQ: MERU), a leader in intelligent Wi-Fi solutions, today
announced significant expansion of its 802.11ac portfolio with two
new dual-radio, dual-stream (2X2) access points -- the industry's
first 802.11ac wall plate access point, the AP122, and a new
general purpose access point, the AP822. The new products extend
the benefits of gigabit Wi-Fi to broader markets at lower price
points and with higher performance than competitive offerings.
Both of the new access points support data rates of up to 867
Mbps as compared to competitors'3X3 solutions that are typically
limited to 600 Mbps data rates. Meru's higher data rates are
enabled by the Meru MobileFLEX architecture, which
supports full use of the 80MHz channel specified by the 802.11ac
standard. Others recommend narrower 40 MHz channels in
enterprise-wide deployments, which reduces their access points'
data rates.
"It's now very clear that 802.11ac is the strategic direction
for organizations of all sizes everywhere, but also that a variety
of access points is required to address all market requirements,"
said Craig Mathias, a principal with the wireless and mobile
advisory firm Farpoint Group. "The Meru AP 122's broad range of
applications and the AP822's performance and price add to the clear
and compelling case for moving to 802.11ac instead of expanding
legacy 802.11n networks."
IDC forecasts that the number of network-connected devices will
grow from 10 billion in 2013 to 212 billion in 20201. To support
this explosion of devices, the new 802.11ac Wi-Fi standard combines
multiple Wi-Fi channels to provide gigabit Wi-Fi data rates and
support higher device densities. This reduces the number of
available channels, posing little problem for the single-channel
deployment option of the Meru MobileFLEX architecture, but
hindering other vendors' Wi-Fi access point deployment strategies.
Other vendors assume a minimum of three overlapping channels to
enable enterprise-wide Wi-Fi coverage.
The Meru AP122 Wall Plate - In-room Deployment for Hospitality
and Higher Education The AP122 is the first 802.11ac wall plate
access point and is specifically designed to meet the
ever-increasing mobile data needs of hotel guests, as well as
resident college and university students.
With up to 1.2 gigabit-per-second data rates for only $595, the
AP122 is perfectly suited to the in-room deployment needs of the
hotel, cruise line and higher-education residence-hall markets.
Designed to provide maximum coverage and capacity in multi-tenant
environments, its inconspicuous design eases in-room cabling and
placement and maximizes deployment flexibility.
The Meru AP822 - Gigabit Wi-Fi Power at Lower Cost The AP822,
with its optimal balance of low cost and high performance, is
uniquely positioned to meet the growing need for 802.11ac WLAN in a
wide variety of markets. Delivering up to 1.2 gigabit-per-second
data rates for only $895, the 2X2 802.11ac AP822 is an obvious
choice for schools, hospitals, hotels and other businesses seeking
to give end users the high-performance of 802.11ac Wi-Fi at a lower
cost than existing 3X3 solutions.
Meru 802.11ac solutions run on standard 802.3af Power of
Ethernet (PoE). This greatly lowers total cost of ownership,
eliminating the need for customers to upgrade their entire Ethernet
switching infrastructure to support 802.3at, or PoE+, as currently
required by most Meru competitors when deploying 802.11ac. Meru
802.11ac access points support devices on both the 5GHz and 2.4GHz
bands and increase the performance of legacy clients, with Meru
customers citing as much as 40 percent increased throughput when
using 802.11n clients on its 802.11ac networks.
"The AP822 and AP122 extend Meru's leadership in the 802.11ac
market, giving us the broadest gigabit Wi-Fi portfolio to meet the
widest range of customer needs," said Manish Rai, vice president of
marketing for Meru. "The performance advantages enabled by the
MobileFLEX architecture give users unprecedented capacity
and productivity improvement and make Meru a clear choice in
education, healthcare, hospitality and general enterprise."
The AP822 is available immediately. The AP122 will be available
in the second half of 2014.
For more information on the AP822, please visit the Meru website
here: http://bit.ly/ap822. Additional information on the AP122 is
available here: http://bit.ly/ap122.
For more information on Meru 802.11ac and SDN solutions, join
Meru and guest Rohit Mehra of IDC for a webinar on April 26.
Register here: http://ubm.io/1lkB7vr.
Supporting Quotes
"We recently issued more than 2,000 Apple® iPads® and MacBooks®,
Google® Chromebooks® and other mobile devices to teachers and
students, all of which are regularly used for streaming voice and
video. The increased throughput and capacity enabled by Meru
802.11ac solutions is extremely attractive to us, and the
attractive price point of the AP822 makes it an obvious choice for
our upcoming WLAN expansions." - Stephanie Vargas, Assistant
Technology Coordinator for Maine School Administrative District 49
in Fairfield, Maine
"The Meru AP122 wall plate access point will give us the highest
performing in-room Wi-Fi in the industry, easily supporting video
and voice streaming on each of the two-to-three mobile devices that
our recreational guests now commonly bring with them when they
visit. With guest surveys commonly ranking Wi-Fi as the most
requested guest amenity, ensuring a high-quality mobile experience
has never been more critical."- Wael El Behi, General Manager,
Hawthorn Suites by Wyndham, Dubai
"Most of our guests are employees of Apple®, Google®, Yahoo® and
other nearby companies, each of whom carry a minimum of three
mobile devices and work from their rooms using streaming voice and
video almost non-stop. The increased speed and capacity that the
Meru AP822 enables will help us continue to ensure an excellent
guest experience, its price -- lower than some legacy 802.11n
access points -- makes moving to 802.11ac a no-brainer." -
Barbara Perzigian, General Manager of the Cupertino Inn and the
Grand Hotel in San Jose, Calif.
"The improved performance and lower price point of the AP822
make 802.11ac attractive to a much wider range of customers. This
will help accelerate the adoption of gigabit Wi-Fi in markets like
education, healthcare and hospitality that have both high-density
and high-performance requirements. We are enthusiastic about the
opportunities the new platform presents, and look forward to
showcasing the unique advantages and capabilities offered by Meru's
Wi-Fi solutions." - Kevin Leibl, President of Advanced Network
Systems, a Meru Platinum Partner and Meru's North American
Solutions Partner of the Year for 2013
1IDCWorldwide Internet of Things (IoT) 2013-2020 Forecast:
Billions of Things, Trillions of Dollars, Doc #243661, Oct
2013
About Meru Networks Meru Networks (NASDAQ: MERU) is a
leader in intelligent 802.11ac Wi-Fi solutions, delivering
uninterrupted user experience for education, healthcare,
hospitality and enterprise. The Meru MobileFLEX
architecture is designed to enable seamless roaming with traffic
separation for critical applications, providing top performance and
high capacity in high-density environments. Visit
www.merunetworks.com or call (408) 215-5300
for more information.
©2014 Meru Networks. Meru and Meru Networks are registered
trademarks and the Meru logo is a trademark of Meru Networks, Inc.
in the United States. Apple, Apple TV, iPad and iTunes U are
trademarks of Apple Inc. registered in the U.S. and other
countries. Google is a registered trademark of Google
Inc.Microsoft, Lync and Skype are registered trademarks of
Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries.
All other trademarks mentioned in this document are the property of
their respective owners.
Press Contact Wilson Craig Director of Public Relations Meru
Networks +1 408 516 6182
wcraig@merunetworks.com
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