Infrastructure

Discussion on improving infrastructure - should we try to do this as a group?

My company has done several school network installs and we are a certified partner with Meraki. However, that is not the solution I am proposing. The solution would be the open source version of meraki called "Open-mesh". They are perfect for schools. Each access point costs between $29 and $49. They use open source software to power them. They have an excellent web based controller mechanism that lets you configure them and see your bandwidth utilization per user. You can white and blacklist people. The notify you when a unit is down,if they are installed correctly, the network can heal itself if there is a bad unit.

We could provide training and advice on how to install them and with a school installing you are looking at an average under $3k for the network. Using a professional you might be around $9k paying for their time.

Anyway, please check out the solution at http://www.open-mesh.com/

I even have some sample units if you want to see how they work.

Regards, Shaun Meredith InfoBridge, LLC.

I have meetings setup with Meru and Aruba,,,I've also talked with a rep for HP and Proxim,,,I currently have Cisco (not Linksys) it's absolutely bullet proof, ,you can wander and not lose connection and you have multiple ssid capability, but the PRICE!! So I've start researching what's available. I believe collaboration on this would be good. Ed Bourdeau

I am speaking with Meru networks next Wednesday also - anyone else interested in this technology (and a possible collaboration)? Sharon Betts

We are trying out the Meru Wireless in one section of the High School with one additional access point in the Supts office being controlled by the same controller. N capable desktop devices are running around 130 Mbs as was the Asus 1000HE. We have had no issues and the interface is much more user friendly than the HP manager. They are definitely worth the trial. Steve Carey

If 802.11N is not that high up on your priority scale or money is an issue, I encourage you to look at http://www.open-mesh.com/store/. They are a mesh based wireless networking system very similar to Meraki but the price is extremely reasonable and the management front end is very nice for a school. Each unit costs $29-$49 and even paying for a professional installation is reasonable (~$4000-10k for a relatively large school). The front end is all open source and can be greatly modified to meet your needs. I should also add that because teh devices are mesh, the channel configuration is not important and expanding your network is not a big deal either. Once you have your base network, you just use the web interface, add the new device and it programs itself when plugged in. Shaun Meredith n- more notes on this above

We have a quote from Meru and are working on another from Ruckus. Ruckus presentation was great - he brought a controller and demonstrated their access points for us also. Hope to have $$ in the next few days. Sharon