Merakie, the MIT Roofnet spinoff, today announced the new Meraki Outdoor repeater and a Solar accessory kit, that can cover entire neighborhoods with Wi-Fi inexpensively.
Meraki Outdoor ($99), uses mesh networking and can send a signal up to 700 feet. Paired with Meraki’s existing indoor Mini ($49) , the Outdoor repeater can be installed on a wall or a pole outside the house. It can provide access for dozens of households sharing one high speed connection, lowering the cost per household as low as $1 to $2 a month.
The Meraki indoor/outdoor repeater supports high gain and directional antennas and works with other Meraki repeaters to create robust networks. Features include:
- Unique industrial design (weatherproof plastics, easy to mount)
- Dual SSID supports public and private networks on the same connection
- Long-range support (400-700 ft; 6-18 miles with antenna)
- 2 x 100Mbit Ethernet ports
- Low-cost: $99
The Meraki Solar accessory kit will allow the repeater to broadcast a signal without being connected to any electrical source.
Once connected, Meraki Solar’s power usage can be distributed throughout the day and managed by the Meraki Dashboard service ensuring the repeater is powered during peak usage times. The solar kit includes a solar panel, battery pack and an outdoor Ethernet cable. Pricing will be set later this summer.
The Meraki Dashboard is a web-hosted management tool designed to make monitoring, configuring, and monetizing a Meraki Network easy. It’s included with all Meraki products.
“The Meraki Solar and Meraki Outdoor will play an important role in our efforts to bring the next billion people online in the coming years,” said Sanjit Biswas, CEO and a co-founder of Meraki.
Both Meraki Solar and the Meraki Outdoor are expected to ship later this summer.
Today, more than 1,000 Meraki networks are up and running in more than 35 countries, providing access to about 40,000 homes. Networks exist in a variety of economic and geographical landscapes — from urban networks in San Francisco, Portland and Caracas to rural networks in Alaska, Ecuador, and Brazil.
The mesh topology enables multiple people to share one Internet connection, significantly changing the cost of Internet access. The Meraki system includes inexpensive hardware, network management tools, and online billing services.
Related Meraki stories on DailyWireless include; Micro Managing MuniFi Clients, Mobile Mesh for Municipal Wireless?, Meraki Networking in SF, Personal Telco Finds Portland WiFi Coverage Lacking, Mapping Wireless Nodes, Meraki Rocks, Bridging the Digital Divide, Google Invests in Meraki, CUWiN + Meraki Client, Solar RoofNet Wiki, and Open Source Routers.
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