mesh products

Tropos launches 'Trade up to Tropos' program

Lynnette Luna — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 23:04:42 -0400

From now until March 31, Tropos is targeting customers of competing mesh products with special promotional discounts. Tropos said its "Trade up to Tropos" program is for end users who are "dissatisfied with the results they are getting from their current wireless mesh vendor and who desire to improve their network performance and reliability." Article

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

Cisco enters muni-WiFi market

Tue, 15 Nov 2005 19:01:39 -0500

We wrote a few weeks ago that the war over muni-WiFi is essentially over (but for the grumbling), and that the incumbents lost. What better proof of that than Cisco's decision to enter the municipal wireless market with wireless mesh products in cities in Ohio and Oregon? When we think about Cisco, adjectives such as "quick-footed" and "nimble" are not the first ones to leap to mind. But the company's strategists are smart, and metro-wide wireless is a growing industry, with US cities estimated to have spent about $76.5 million on wireless networks in 2005. Analysts say that the number will likely jump 430 percent to $405.6 million in 2007. Yes, Cisco is known for wire-line routers and switches, but the municipal market is proving too tempting.

The company's first wireless mesh product, the Aironet 1500, will use two radios and can be placed on rooftops, light posts and power poles in cities. The company also announced several other wireless products, including a wireless switch, a WLAN controller and a wireless protocol for large-scale deployments. Cisco will deploy Aironet across the 55 sq. mi. of Dayton, OH. The small town of Lebanon, OR, has also begun deploying Cisco's mesh product and says it is 40 percent completed. The University of California, Berkeley served as the test area for the technology and the company had installed 11 APs which handled 100 users on campus at any time.

Other companies already in the field should eye Cisco's move with some anxiety. It is true that Tropos, BelAir and Strix Systems have a two- or three-year advantage in selling wireless mesh hardware to cities, but Cisco's brand name and deep pockets will help it compensate for its late start. Strix Systems' VP Cyrus Irani does not mince words: "When Cisco enters a market, any company that says they don't pick up and think twice is lying."

For more on Cisco's muni-WiFi move:
- see this Red Herring report