Radio Switch Reduces Enterprise WLAN Deployment Costs up to 50 Percent

Radio Switch 4000 reduces Enterprise WLAN deployment costs by up to 50 percent

Meru Networks, the global leader in wireless VoIP infrastructure, today announced European availability of its Radio Switch 4000 (RS 4000), which recently won the 'Grand Prize' Best of Show award in the mobile/wireless category at Interop Tokyo 2006. The RS 4000 has also been chosen as part of the high-density, high performance WLAN for the School of the Future, a partnership between Microsoft and the School District of Philadelphia. The RS 4000 enables simultaneous deployment of multiple Wi-Fi channels, providing support for higher bandwidth and a higher number of users, while reducing enterprise WLAN deployment costs by up to 50 percent.

The RS 4000's architecture is built to handle the requirements of high density, business-critical data and wireless VoIP applications. Its ability to support large numbers of users in confined locations makes it ideal for customers such as academic and public institutions, government agencies, convention centres and large-scale corporate offices. A reliable, modular system, the RS 4000 enables customers to add and upgrade radios as WLAN requirements grow.

"With a growing number of users who depend on the WLAN for critical business applications, enterprises are finding it increasingly difficult to deliver high-performance wireless services in high-density locations," said Richard Webb, Directing Analyst, Wireless Infonetics Research, Inc. Enterprises need a cost-effective, easy to deploy solution for effectively dealing with the fundamental RF restrictions that limit performance in a dense WLAN environment."

The Meru Radio Switch system has four 802.11 a/b/g radios and a unique patent-pending antenna that simultaneously allows multiple channels to be delivered and received at the same time. This allows installations with breakthrough wireless performance by layering multiple channels in a single coverage area - a feature enabled by Meru's cellular-like architecture and patented Air Traffic Control technology. The unique antenna lowers the cost of deployment by reducing the need for channel planning and eliminating the deployment of multiple antennas. The Radio Switch has a modular architecture that supports radio additions and upgrades, including 802.11n.

"We're really excited about the RS 4000 and have identified a number of vertical markets in the UK that will benefit from this solution. It's ideal for high-density areas such as university lecture halls and its VoIP scale and quality are perfect for hospitals. Another interesting application is CCTV, particularly in transport where cabling is not possible. In the city, traders now require news feeds to their mobile devices and so IP TV broadcasting is also an area of interest. We see a huge market for the RS 4000 - it's like access points on steroids!", commented Tim Close, sales and marketing director of 802global, one of Meru's distribution channel partners.

"There is no other solution on the market that can offer enterprises increased productivity and performance, as well as reduced costs," said Mikko Kiukkanen, director of business development and sales for Western Europe, Meru Networks. "The RS 4000 is the only way to add capacity to the enterprise WLAN without adding complexity."

Pricing and Availability
The Meru RS 4000 is available now from 802global (www.802global.com) and Siracom (www.siracom) starting at £995/€1600.