Mesh Networks

Meraki introduces plug-and-play WiFi mesh kit

Lynnette Luna — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 19:32:48 -0500

WiFi mesh vendor Meraki introduced the Main Street WiFi Starter Pack, a product design to assist any town or business district to deploy a WiFi mesh network across a square mile for less than $10,000.

Meraki has always had a unique strategy to deploy wireless mesh technology. It makes WiFi equipment and sells its WiFi repeaters and network gateways to residents who volunteer to deploy the equipment on rooftops or on their windowsills to create a wireless mesh. Municipalities have been deploying the solution too, and now they can deploy the Main Street plug-and-play kit network themselves or use a Meraki certified partner to handle the roll out.

Typical mesh solutions that cover a square mile cost between $25,000 and $100,000, Meraki said.

For more:
- read this release

Related articles:
Meraki rolls out mesh partner program
Poor, seniors to get free WiFi in 'Frisco

Muni-WiFi player Azulstar shifts gears to WiMAX

Thu, 20 Mar 2008 07:59:57 -0400

Muni-WiFi vendor Azulstar said it plans to upgrade all of its existing muni-WiFi networks with WiMAX. Using equipment from Airspan Networks and Redline Communications, Azulstar will roll out WiMAX across 15 cities in the Midwest and Southwest, including the nation's first muni-WiFi market Grand Haven, Mich., which will be the first market to upgrade. The vendor is using licensed 3.6 GHz spectrum.

The WiMAX network is in final stages of testing in Grand Haven and first customers are being connected. The network will overlay the existing unlicensed WiFi mesh networks, which will continue to operate supporting visitors and residential customers as long as there is demand. Legacy WiFi customers wanting to move to WiMAX will receive a discount toward their adapter.

Azulstar, which cites WiMAX as having better economics, performance and reliability, said it will continue its strategy of owning and operating municipal wireless networks in regions where it can also deploy licensed-spectrum WiMAX. In existing Azulstar projects where WiFi technology is the only viable option due to spectrum limitations, Azulstar has migrated to a subcontractor role, assisting the municipalities and partners achieve their goals, but no longer acting as the network owner.

To find out more about Azulstar's WiMAX plans:
- check out this release

Related articles:
- Silicon Valley Network faces another setback Report
- Consortium wins Sacramento WiFi network build Report

Start-up looks to jump start secondary spectrum market

Mon, 10 Mar 2008 07:59:58 -0400

A start-up is building what it calls the world's first online, real-time market for wireless spectrum. Spectrum Bridge officially came out of stealth mode today, announcing the launch of its new business plan, which aims to simplify and enable the market for secondary spectrum access.

"After the 700 MHz auction is wrapped up, the FCC has no more desirable spectrum to auction for mobile broadband," Rick Rotondo, vice president of marketing with Spectrum Bridge, said in an interview with FierceBroadbandWireless. "We started looking into industry and government studies and found that in any given time and place, 80 percent to 94 percent of all allocated spectrum in the U.S. goes unused. We've done the measurements and found the same thing."

Spectrum Bridge's management team, comprised of former WiFi vendor Mesh Networks, which was sold to Motorola, realized that not all enterprises can rely on unlicensed WiFi networks. Many need to have access to licensed spectrum to enable higher-power networks. At the same time, many spectrum holders are sitting on vacant spectrum, realizing it's a valuable asset but not using it.

Spectrum Bridge is taking advantage of the fact that the FCC has given its blessing to the secondary spectrum market. Specifically, the FCC allows spectrum holders to disaggregate spectrum along frequency, time and coverage domain and basically create offerings for any amount of spectrum, any time, length and any size footprint up to the total amount of license. The problem is, most license-holders don't have the resources to come up with their own offerings nor is there a marketplace to make offers available to potential licensees.

That's where the real-time web site comes in. Spectrum Bridge, through some proprietary technology, aims to simplify the entire process of secondary market transactions, from identifying, packaging and pricing available spectrum to helping those who purchase the spectrum by offering a number of partners.

For instance, a license holder with 20 megahertz could create separate leasing offers, leasing 10 megahertz of its spectrum for two months to an enterprise for a retail price. Operators can more easily trade spectrum.

"This opens up a mass market for wireless operators to get access to affordable licensed spectrum," Rotondo said. "It allows a spectrum holder to monetize the unused portion of section assets.

The Web-based system will automatically configure the end user's wireless network to ensure compliance with appropriate regulatory service rules and automatically generate all required FCC filings for the spectrum transaction.

Spectrum Bridge hopes to get the business model and technology up and running later this year, with the spectrum exchange tool going live in the third quarter and the spectrum management application going online by the end of the year.

So for all those players that missed out on the 700 MHz auction, there is hope for spectrum.--Lynnette

Check out the company's web site.

MIT, Cambridge students develop WiFi co-op

Thu, 07 Feb 2008 06:59:53 -0500

Students at MIT and the University of Cambridge have come up with an idea for a "wireless cooperative," that would link privately held hotspots throughout a city into a sort of large-scale mesh network.

"The idea is that current residential and business owners could open up their WiFi access points and implement controlled, secure tunneling practices to allow guest access but also protect all parties involved," Ars Technica explains. "The system would offer a trusted point on the Internet that guests could access via an encrypted tunnel, preventing any kind of unfortunate mingling or malicious activity between the host of an access point and its guests."

This idea is reminiscent of a few similar initiatives we've seen in the past--most notably Fon--but would not require any additional hardware, at least in theory.

For more on WiFi Co-ops:
- see this Ars Technica article

Related article:
Get a router, share WiFi, anger your ISP: For free Report

Meraki scores $20M in VC money

Mon, 07 Jan 2008 06:59:56 -0500

WiFi mesh operator Meraki scored $20 million in financing that it says will partly be used to finance the cost of creating a free WiFi network across San Francisco. Meraki has been experimenting with the notion of a massive free WiFi network in San Francisco throughout 2007 and apparently sees a big opportunity now that San Fran's city government pulled the plug on muni-WiFi plans after EarthLink bailed out.

The premise of Meraki is using ad-hoc networks that are formed using shared broadband connections and Meraki's WiFi repeaters that users place in their windows, balconies or roofs. The free San Fran network will be "part of an effort to showcase for other communities around the world how the company's technology can allow the creation of city-wide access networks at a fraction of current costs," said the company.

The second-round $20-million infusion came from Sequoia Capital, DAG Ventures, Northgate Capital and other existing investors. It has already received an undisclosed amount of capital from Google and $5 million in first-round financing last year.

To read more about Meraki's plans for San Francisco:
- check out this article from TelecomWeb

Related articles:
About Meraki Report
Meraki user revolt as company jacks up prices Report

ALSO NOTED: Is WiMAX in jeopardy in Australia?; Philly school district installs one of world's largest WiFi networks; and much

Thu, 29 Nov 2007 06:59:51 -0500

> Is WiMAX in jeopardy in Australia? Article

> The School District of Philadelphia now has one of the world's largest installations of WiFi. Release

> Analyst: Sprint and Clearwire to reunite? Article

And Finally... Firetide mesh network connects workers on 2,275-ft. Dubai tower. Article

Metric: Mobile WiMAX market grows 130% in 2Q

Mon, 15 Oct 2007 06:59:56 -0400

Infonetics Research says the mobile WiMAX equipment market increased 130 percent in 2Q07 over 1Q07 to reach $144.5 million. The firm also says the fixed WiMAX market, which sequentially dropped 40 percent in 1Q07, rebounded somewhat, increasing 9 percent in 2Q07.

Other findings from Infonetics' report, "WiMAX and Outdoor Mesh Network Equipment," include:

The outdoor wireless mesh access node segment dropped 20 percent between 1Q07 and 2Q07;
The worldwide fixed and mobile WiMAX equipment market is forecast to grow at a five-year compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 89 percent between 2006 and 2010;
2Q07 marks the inflection point when mobile WiMAX equipment sales outpace fixed WiMAX equipment;
Tropos Networks and Strix are neck and neck in the battle for leadership in outdoor mesh equipment revenue in 2Q07; BelAir moves up to third place;
43 percent of all mobile WiMAX equipment revenue came from Asia Pacific in 2Q07, 31 percent from North America, 17 percent from EMEA, and 9 percent from CALA.

For more about Infonetics' report:
- read this release

The egos surrounding muni-WiFi

Thu, 30 Aug 2007 06:59:58 -0400

The egos surrounding muni-WiFi
Ouch. It hasn't been a very good week in the muni-WiFi space--a segment that is already reeling from bad publicity. We already know the industry is in an adjustment period as vendors everywhere realize that governments need to step up and share the risk as anchor tenants.

The public-access model is now questionable. But many cities aren't getting it yet, and they are pouting and going home when vendors want them to foot some money. Chicago was the latest to balk at anchor-tenant provisions EarthLink and competitor AT&T (see story No. 2)

Vendors are going home too. EarthLink, the biggest proponent in the past of the public-access concept, eliminated some 900 jobs, closed offices in markets where EarthLink had plans for muni-WiFi projects and dropped out of the long-delayed muni-WiFi plans in San Francisco. And with Chicago gone, AT&T is now quitting plans to build a 30-square-mile mesh network in Springfield, Ill. AT&T itself hasn't issued any statement but local and state politicians in Illinois said they still hope to salvage some sort of free wireless service in the state capital area.

In light of these major announcements, we will continue to see the media hammer the muni-WiFi space, questioning its survival. Still, many cities exist that are doing muni-WiFi the rational way. They just aren't making themselves too well known. It appears the most successful deployments to date involve some way of wirelessly enabling a government process or program of some sort, such as video surveillance and meter reading--which offer a solid ROI.

Will this modified approach catch on with those politicians who heavily promised WiFi for the masses? As muni-WiFi analyst Craig Settles says: "There were a lot of politicians who put their ego on the line because they promised free access. Now they are claiming a bait and switch on the part of vendors. These vendors promised them, but that was when everyone was drinking the KoolAid. Now it's sunrise, and it hurts."

Unfortunately, egos may very well lead many more cities that were banking on the public-access play to go home and declare that muni-WiFi initiatives don't work. That's a shame given the fact we are seeing some real economic impact from muni-WiFi. Greene County, N.C., for instance, once devastated by the departure of the tobacco industry, can now attribute the turnaround in the county's high drop-out rate to its muni-WiFi initiative as students can learn online. And people are starting new online businesses. It's an example of a proper planning and a realistic expectation of the business model and technical capability.--Lynnette

PS: In recognition of Labor Day, FierceBroadbandWireless will be publishing Tuesday next week, instead of Monday. Enjoy the holiday weekend!

Editor's Corner

Sun, 25 Mar 2007 20:01:38 -0400

Speculation has been swirling as to whether Internet search behemoth Google will come to market with its own branded mobile phone. Guesses have run the gamut, ranging from a strategy of making a phone and selling its own service as an MVNO to producing a low-cost handset for emerging markets. Certainly the mobile market is not one to ignore as it represents billions in revenue for a company like Google, but Google has been facing an uphill battle with operators in the U.S. These customer gatekeepers have opted to stay away from Google search services, preferring to make deals with white-label, pure-play mobile search companies to power their offerings. Operators want a cut of the revenue from search services rather than offering them for free with a Google service. Operators in both the U.S. and Europe will try to hold on to their strategy of owning the customer until customers finally demand an open Internet model.

Until then, it seems to me that Google might be better off looking to a WiFi handset, offering a VoIP client and a decent Web browser to make some money on search-based advertising--exactly how it makes money in the wired world. The timing is right too. Municipal mesh networks are proliferating with every major city in the U.S. building one along with even small communities getting into the act too.

And at least one major ISP is looking at the opportunity for selling WiFi VoIP phones over mesh networks. EarthLink announced last week it is beta testing phones on the company's municipal wireless network in Anaheim, CA. EarthLink WiFi phones will allow consumers to make Internet phone calls from a wireless handset to any traditional landline, cell phone or VoIP phone. The handsets will work directly on EarthLink's municipal wireless networks and can also connect via a wireless router attached to the user's wired home broadband network.

VoIP could very well be one of the biggest benefits of a muni-WiFi network. A wireless phone that can be used citywide that connects to free or very low cost VoIP services is quite desirable from a consumer standpoint.

Certainly Google could leverage its muni-WiFi offerings in its hometown of Mountain View, CA and its network in San Francisco that it runs with partner EarthLink. Tack on some location-based Google searching capabilities and the Internet search giant has a pretty compelling offer. -Lynnette

SPOTLIGHT: Google Earth used to map out mesh networks

Sun, 25 Mar 2007 20:01:32 -0400

Google Earth is playing a big role in helping mesh network providers map out their networks. Indian network operator LifeStyle Networks used Google Earth to decide where to place radios so the entire city of Mumbai would have coverage. It then used GPS-based location data of the hardware to make an online network map over Google Earth. LifeStyle Networks can feed information from Strix's network management software into Google Earth to make sure radios are operating correctly. Article | Blog

ALSO NOTED: Skyhook powers next-gen location plugin for AOL's AIM service; Kissimmee deploys mesh network; and much more...

Sun, 25 Mar 2007 20:01:31 -0400

> Skyhook Wireless announced it is powering the next-generation location-based plugin for users of AOL's AIM service. Article

> The City of Kissimmee, FL deployed a mesh network using technology from Motorola. Article

> Wi-Net is building Italy's largest muni WiFi project. Article

And Finally... VON speakers predict the future. Article

Dallas PD deploys wireless mesh network

Mon, 19 Mar 2007 20:01:35 -0400

Mesh vendor Firetide announced the Dallas Police Department has deployed the company's mesh networks for video surveillance to combat crime throughout the downtown business district. The city selected a solution from BearCom, a Dallas-based wireless system integrator, which included Firetide wireless mesh nodes, Sony IP cameras, and BridgeWave transfer units. The wireless video surveillance network was funded by a grant from the Meadows Foundation.

Interestingly, in a recent conversation I had with Motorola's mesh folks, quite a bit of wireless mesh network deployments are being justified by video or video is a significant component of the solution--more so than general access. Video has certainly proven that it can keep constituents safer and reduce manpower costs for public safety.

For more about Firetide's deal with the Dallas Police Department:
- read this release from Firetide

ALSO NOTED: Samsung makes digital photo frame complete with WiFi; Meru Networks unveils new WLAN software for security; and muc

Mon, 19 Mar 2007 20:01:31 -0400

> Samsung Electronics displayed a soon-to-be-released version of its digital photo frame with WiFi. Article

> A consortium of companies that includes Alcatel-Lucent will build an urban WiFi broadband network in the Italian province of Trento. Blog

> Meru Networks introduced new wireless LAN software that helps to secure wireless traffic while optimizing mobile application performance. Article

> Mesh network vendor SkyPilot announced its SyncMesh software version 1.5, which enhances the voice over IP capabilities across SkyPilot's mesh products. Release

> Foundry Networks has launched wireless LAN access points and software designed to help increase the connection capacity and security of wireless networks. Article

And Finally... Win a chance to go fly fishing with Intel Chairman Craig Barrett. Article

ALSO NOTED: First also noted headline; second headline; and much more...

Mon, 19 Jun 2006 20:00:50 -0400

> SkyPilot Networks and MetroWiFi will collaborate on building out a wireless network in Foster City, California. Santa Clara-based SkyPilot, a provider of carrier-class broadband wireless mesh networks, and Mountain View-based MetroFi have already collaborated on eight muni-WiFi networks. Report.

> RSan Mateo, California-based real-time locating systems (RTLS) provider AeroScout is showing a new solution targeted at the mining industry. Designed to improve the safety of miners, it was codeveloped with Australian company Mine Site Technologies (MST), which specializes in mining communication company in Australia. The new solution combines AeroScout's WiFi-based active RFID product with MST's Integrated Communications Cap Lamp. Report.

> Samsung is showing its new OfficeServ IP-centric WLAN Solution for small-to-medium businesses (SMBs). Press release.

> WILIBOX is showing its WILI MESH - OSI layer 2 wireless mesh software platform which enables hardware vendors to provide single-to-multiple radio wireless mesh solutions for municipality, WISP, campus, and enterprise networks. Report.

And finally...Australia leads the world in distance swimming events, and now it leads the world in broadband wireless: We note the launch of major subscription TV operator AUSTAR's wireless broadband network in one of Australia's major regional cities -- Wagga Wagga. The launch means Australia now has three Navini-based pre-Mobile WiMAX networks which will ultimately be interoperable. Report.

Symbol shows new Wi-NG platform

Tue, 09 May 2006 20:01:36 -0400

The late Cyrus Sulzberger, publisher of The New York Times, titled his autobiography A Long Row of Candles. The author of the history of the wireless age may want to call his book A Long Row of Acronyms. There is another one yet: Symbol Technologies is gearing up to launch its Wi-NG (for Wireless Next Generation) platform. The new radio frequency switches planned will consolidate technologies such as 802.11, 802.16, passive RFID, mesh networks, EV-DO and HSDPA. "This is a long term strategy for Symbol for the next 12 months," said Chris McGugan, the company's senior director of marketing. The point is to allow companies to start with a WiFi-based WLAN and expand from there to new technologies.

The first product in the Wi-NG series will be the WS5100 Wireless Switch. It will be enabled with Layer 3 roaming and the ability to adopt RFID readers. The switch can be coupled with the AP-5131 mesh AP the company announced last year, and the APs can be deployed without a switch. "The mesh is standalone today, but is part of the architecture for Wi-NG," McGugan said. "If customers want that mesh to be switch controlled, they have that option." Security company AirDefense is a partner in the new Wi-NG architecture, and it integrates its wireless intrusion protection systems into the new offering. Symbol APs will serve as the sensors for detecting and preventing intruders such as unauthorized clients or rogue APs. Wi-NG is built on Linux.

For more on Symbol's Wi-NG:
- see this TMCnet report

Motorola to offer downloadable support for 802.11s

Tue, 25 Apr 2006 20:01:38 -0400

Motorola has a leading position in the mesh networking universe, so it is important to note that the company said its MeshConnex technology will add support for the final IEEE 802.11s meshing standard through an over-the-air software download. The 802.11s standard aims to define common features and ensure interoperability among mesh equipment vendors. Motorola has been a contributor to the 802.11s mesh standard and is active in the deliberations of the IEEE ESS Mesh Networking Task Group (IEEE 802.11 TGs).

MeshConnex is Motorola's mesh networking technology implementation which powers a number of the company's products, including its Mesh Enabled Architecture and MOTOMESH multi-radio broadband systems. MOTOMESH networks support both unlicensed WiFi and licensed 4.9 GHz public safety access in the same wireless network. It has been a popular solution for more than a dozen municipalities since its launch in January 2005 and has been especially welcomed by emergency and first response units. The MeshConnex software engine is also being incorporated into other Motorola products addressing new and existing mesh networking applications.

For more on Motorola mesh networking strategy:
- see this Unstrung report
- and this Converge article

ALSO: Azimuth Systems is releasing the Azimuth Wi-Fi Mesh Test software suite, which the company describes as the industry's first commercial solution that automates the performance testing of wireless mesh networks in a controlled laboratory environment. Release

WiFi mesh-networking draft standard approved

Tue, 14 Mar 2006 19:01:36 -0500

The IEEE standards group working on interoperable WiFi mesh networks has taken an important step forward by adopting a single proposal as the basis for the new standard. The new standard sets the stage for a battle royal between WiFi mesh and 802.16 technologies such as WiMAX and ETSI HiperMAN. The new standard will be called 802.11s. It will define the WLAN MAC and PHY for "extended service set mesh networking." The goal (brace yourself now) was to create a protocol for auto-configuring paths between APs over self-configuring multi-hop topologies in a wireless distribution system (WDS) to support both broadcast/multicast and unicast traffic in an ESS Mesh using the four-address frame format or an extension. Translation: The standard will allow WLAN APs mobility.

The beginning did not look promising, with 15 proposals submitted to the working group when it met in July 2005. It took two months to whittle the list to four proposals, and four more months, until January 2006, to wind them down to two proposals (or, rather, approaches). As was the case with 802.11n and UWB, powerful companies joined to create powerful coalitions behind the two approaches. The first coalition was the Wi-Mesh Alliance (WiMA), created last year and led by Nortel. Supporters include Accton Technology, ComNets, InterDigital Communications, NextHop Technologies, Philips, Extreme Networks, MITRE, Naval Research Laboratory, Swisscom Innovations and Thomson. In the opposite corner was the SEEMesh coalition, backed by Intel, Nokia, Motorola, NTT DoCoMo and Texas Instruments. To the surprise of many, the two coalitions managed to reach a compromise on a single joint proposal, which the IEEE working group quickly approved. Final approval of 802.11s is targeted for 2008.

For more on the joint mesh-networking standard:
- see this Telecomweb report

ALSO: Farpoint's Craig Mathias is bullish on mesh networks. The problem with WLANs in public venues, he writes, is the core challenge that any cellular network faces: back haul. "The interconnection of outdoor access points would normally be the source of most of the expense in deploying metro-scale WLANs, but this isn't the reality we see today. Rather, we can interconnect the access points (AP) wirelessly, using a technique based on the concept of a mesh... A wireless mesh allows APs to be connected only to power and then to interface with the rest of the infrastructure by relaying information to other APs--in other words, the back haul is wireless. This allows an operator to quite literally blanket an area with APs and provision over-the-air back haul at basically zero cost for this interconnect." Analysis

PLUS: If your company is in Tempe, AZ (but not only there), you're now faced with a decision: Should you spend money on metro-area WiFi services or cellular data services such as 1x EV-DO? Analysis

Analysis: Is WiFi a true alternative to cellular?

Tue, 07 Mar 2006 19:01:37 -0500

WiFi's short range was its weak point from the start, until mesh networking came along. After the more serious security and quality problems of mesh technology were addressed, the technology became popular in campus-wide and metro-wide deployments. So much so, in fact, that WiFi providers have been touting the technology as an alternative to cellular, what with WiFi's lower monthly fees and higher bandwidth compared to cellular providers for services such as Internet access, VPN connections to corporate networks and VoIP calls. These services are now being aggressively marketed both to businesses and individual mobile users. To deliver these services, 802.11-based mesh networks are being set up to blanket large areas (the latest example: The Wireless Access Zone Tempe [WAZTempe] network, completed just last week by network operator NeoReach Wireless, a division of MobilePro). As is the case with all such networks, WAZTempe operates in the unlicensed 2.4-GHz and 5-GHz radio bands.

Not everyone agrees that WiFi is truly an alternative to cellular. The Yankee Group just issued a report called "Myths and Realities of Wi-Fi Mesh Networking," with its conclusion well summed up by co-author Phil Redman: "There is a limit to how far you can push an unlicensed radio technology." This is true even as the pace of WiFi innovation--consider 802.11n, which promises bandwidth of 300 Mbps to 400 Mbps in 2007--accelerates and allows providers to push that limit.

Providers such as NeoReach and vendors such as Strix, Tropos, BelAir and others, argue that the many metro-area deployments around the U.S. offer evidence that WiFi mesh networks are viable. "If we're talking about just the technology, then these types of networks designed to cover what I call 'localized regions,' with the intention of having a modest level of usage, make sense," Redman acknowledges. Whether WiFi networks can succeed as sustainable businesses is unclear. "It's very difficult for a [Wi-Fi] business model to work in isolation from another service that has a reasonable level of market scale" such as wide-area cellular services, he says.

Bob Egan, an author of the original 802.11 standard and now director of emergent technologies at consultancy Tower Group, is also skeptical about WiFi mesh being able to deliver for mobile enterprises. "802.11 was never intended and will never be a metro architecture," he says. "Metro [WiFi] nets are just a venture capitalist wish, and not an architectural reality."

For more on the WiFi-cellular debate:
- see John Cox's Techworld discussion
For more on the WAXTempe project:
- see this report

ALSO NOTED: Firetide, AWA roll out commercial WLAN in Spain; MetroFi to offer free WiFi in the Valley; and much more...

Tue, 31 Jan 2006 19:00:50 -0500

> Mesh networking specialist Firetide and Spanish WLAN operator AWA will roll out commercial WLAN and mesh networks for voice and data services in Spain. Release

> Mountain View, CA-based MetroFi will offer free WiFi connections across multiple Silicon Valley cities. Report

> Dunedin's bid to lead Florida cities into the world of universal wireless Internet access appeared to have crashed a few days ago but has just been revived. Article

And Finally... You use your WiFi-enabled PDA to follow the score of a football game, but just as the game reaches its climax in a goal-line stand with one minute to go, your screen goes blank and you receive the dreaded message: "WiFi dead zone." The solution? AuraGrid WLAN expansion kit.

Nortel pushes mesh in Canada, elsewhere

Tue, 08 Nov 2005 19:01:39 -0500

Mesh networking technology is picking up after dropping the ball two or three years ago (it faced problems of security and scalability). Cisco is about to release a mesh product, and now Nortel is teaming up with service provider SimplySurf Wireless Network to offer wireless broadband through a mesh network in rural Ontario. The firm will add other networks in and around Ottawa over time.

Nortel is demonstrating another rural mesh network in the small Canadian town of Chapleau. As broadband deployments go, we are talking of something rather small--the Dunrobin deployment uses fewer than 20 APs--but pushing into rural areas is central to Nortel's mesh strategy. Dan Jones quotes a Nortel VP as saying that the company is also targeting citywide wireless deployments, campuses, and the "homeland security" market with its indoor and outdoor mesh nodes and wireless bridge equipment.

On the other side of the scale: Nortel's mesh network in Taipei will be the biggest metropolitan public access network ever built, with 10,000 access points offering WiFi to 3 million citizens.

For more in the rural mesh deployment:
- see SimplySurf's press release
- read Dan Jones' Unstrung report