Meraki

I read about this company this morning - they have developed a wireless product that creates a wireless mesh from access point to access point. They can communicate up to 150 feet indoors and 750 feet outdoors. They are small and the company provides software updates for the life of the product.

Big Deal for Schools?

Yes -

Here is why -

Each access point can be set up to offer a secure and open internet connection. What if...schools worked with local businesses and homeowners to create a wireless grid? The school provides the bandwidth - the business buys the access point and agrees to host it on top of their building. The community works together to provide free wireless to their students everywhere in the school boundaries.

Talk about eliminating the digital divide.

Mange your network over the web with Dashboard, the simple control panel for the Meraki system. Keep track of dozens or hundreds of network users, set bandwidth limits, brand your network, or optionally charge for access.

Here is the payoff for the business owners - free (or cheap) internet to them! Using Meraki's software you can provide internet to users for free - or for a charge. So you can get as creative as you want. A school could charge a small fee for non-student users and use it to pay for additional bandwidth. Bandwidth can also be regulated all the way down to the user level.


Think about the power of equally offering internet access to your entire student body...