New Cellular WLAN Architecture Extends Meru Networks' Leadership in Wireless VoIP15 February 2005
Meru Networks, the global leader in converged voice and data WLANs, today announced a family of new WLAN products that allow organizations to scale high-performance wireless voice and data coverage to any user in any location with the industry's lowest deployment and management costs. Meru's new System Director Version 3 software and family of new WLAN controllers work with the company's AP200 access points to create a fully coordinated "cellular WLAN" architecture. The new architecture gives enterprises an easily scalable WLAN infrastructure capable of providing wireless VoIP with the reliability and quality of wired VoIP. Meru's new architecture has already been deployed in enterprise WLANs that use cellular/Wi-Fi dual-mode phones.
Only Meru's coordinated, "cellular" architecture enables wireline-quality IP voice for mobile enterprise users. Unlike other WLAN systems in which access points work independently and must be laboriously configured to deliver adjacent, non-overlapping coverage, Meru's new family of WLAN products uses a coordinated, "cellular" architecture in which all access points (APs) work together to provide a seamless blanket of coverage that scales transparently and delivers guaranteed quality of service to every WLAN user.
"Other vendors want to limit the number of users per access point, or to segregate VoIP on one wireless LAN while using another for data, but Meru offers a unified, coordinated infrastructure that supports a large number of users and any dynamic mix of voice and data over the same converged WLAN," said Monte G. Siefers, Director Technology of Converged Solutions Group. "The system has been far less expensive to deploy and manage than other products, and it's the only wireless LAN infrastructure we've seen that delivers carrier-grade Voice over WLAN."
System Director Version 3 Creates Cellular WLAN; Coordinates 801.11a/b/g Access Points
Meru System Director version 3 is the latest version of Meru's system software, and is the industry's first wireless operating system to create a fully coordinated network of wireless APs across all operating modes. With System Director version 3, users can create a WLAN that includes 802.11a, 802.11b, and 802.11g access points (APs), and manage them all as a single coordinated infrastructure. Using Meru's AP200 Universal Access Points, System Director version 3 can deliver wireless service to any user via any 802.11 mode at any time.
"Users have entirely different expectations for voice than they do for simple wireless data," said David Willis, vice president of Technology Research Services at META Group, a leading provider of IT research, advisory services and strategic consulting. "Scalability, application-specific quality of service control, and load balancing are hallmarks of mobile cellular telephone networks. To meet user expectations, wireless LANs must be built to a similar standard if they are going to support voice. Builders of very large, enterprise-wide pervasive wireless LANs should be thinking about both data and voice applications, architecting for voice from the beginning."
Meru System Director Version 3 also adds new security and management functionality that allows greater flexibility and control for the administrator with two unique features:
-- Virtual Wireless LANs: System Director now supports up to 64 Virtual Wireless LANs, allowing organizations to run multiple separate logical networks over the same physical Wireless LAN network. Each virtual Wireless LAN can have its own security, QoS, and 802.11 beacon policies to meet the needs of different administrative domains.
-- Captive Portal: The new Captive Portal feature isolates unauthenticated users to a sign-on portal until the user provides the necessary identification credentials. The administrator can customize the user login page by uploading HTML pages and graphics through the Web Interface. When the Captive Portal is enabled, all user traffic is blocked. Once the user opens up a Web browser and tries to access any website, the user is redirected to the Meru Controller's SSL-encrypted (https) login page. Authentication can also be integrated with the enterprise RADIUS server.
"We explored many alternatives to secure and manage our WLAN and the features of Meru's System Director exceeded our expectations. Meru Networks understands the importance of security and management within a large-scale Enterprise wireless environment," said Terrence McGowan, CIO of Monroe College. "Consequently, the WLAN they provided incorporates the security measures we need to take when it comes to protecting important data."
New Controllers Support Remote Offices, Larger Environments; New Universal Access Point
In addition, Meru is significantly extending its product line with three new WLAN controllers to compliment its existing MC1100 MultiService Controller product:
The Meru MC3000 Enterprise Controller -- Ideal for corporate headquarters, the MC3000 provides toll-quality voice and data services for up to 150 Access Points simultaneously and is among the industry's highest performance centralized WLAN appliance.
The Meru MC1000 Edge Controller -- The MC1000 series controller combines exceptional price/performance for smaller networks of up to 30 access points. It comes in two models -- the MC1015 for up to 15 APs, and the MC1030 for up to 30APs.
The Meru MC500 Remote Controller -- The MC500 is designed for remote or branch office applications, and is ideal for extending Meru's unique voice and data 802.11 a/b/g network to offices requiring up to 5 Access Points.
The new controllers make it easier for customers to deploy a Meru WLAN in larger and smaller environments to provide high-performance voice and data coverage throughout any organization.
AP200 Completes End-To-End Solution
Completing the WLAN solution, the Meru AP200 Universal Access Point is the ideal solution for the satellite office with its new "Remote AP" feature. (See Meru Access Point Eliminates 802.11G Client Performance Penalty, August 9, 2004.) AP200 Universal Access Points can operate without an on-site controller in satellite offices, providing local switching for communication between resources while providing a secure WLAN with centralized policies and control from a Meru Controller at headquarters.
"Meru has always believed that pervasive wireless LANs that are robust, reliable, and easy to deploy and manage will enable enterprises to fully realize benefits of mobility," said Kamal Anand, vice president of marketing at Meru Networks. "With System Director version 3 and our expanded WLAN controller lineup, Meru now offers the only system that supports any service to any user in any location, which allows companies to deploy a single wireless network that will support the applications of today and be ready to deliver on the mobility needs of the future."
About Meru Networks, Inc.
Meru Networks is the wireless LAN performance leader, and makes the only enterprise WLAN infrastructure that delivers the service reliability, scalability, security, and ease of use that are essential for pervasive wireless deployments. Offering superior voice performance and subscriber density, Meru's Wireless LAN System is deployed in major Fortune 500 accounts, universities, and healthcare organizations. Meru's unique Air Traffic Control technology provides predictable bandwidth and over-the-air, application-specific QoS to support a wide range of current and future wireless applications. Meru, founded in 2002, is based in Sunnyvale, California. For more information on Meru Networks and its products, visit http://www.merunetworks.com/ or call 408-215-5300.
Meru Networks, Inc.
CONTACT: Michael Schoolnik of Story Communications, +1-415-674-3816, or
michael@storypr.com, for Meru Networks, Inc.; or Sarah Kim of Meru Networks,
+1-408-215-5357, or skim@merunetworks.com
Web site: http://www.merunetworks.com/
Source: ArriveNet
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