Temple University to Deploy Meru Wireless LAN Across Eight Campuses in Philadelphia Area

Formerly a 'Network of Convenience,' Wireless Now Seen as Replacement for Wired Networks in Academic Spaces
 

SUNNYVALE, Calif., June 23, 2008 – Temple University has begun deploying a new wireless network from Meru Networks that by the end of 2008 will cover all eight of its campuses in the greater Philadelphia area. More than 900 Meru wireless access points (APs) will be installed over the course of the project, offering a combination of IEEE 802.11a/b/g access and newer high-speed 802.11n technology – and in some locations replacing wired networking altogether.

Among the highlights of the Temple WLAN deployment:

• The Meru network is already up and running in Temple's Law School, School of Business and TECH (Teaching, Education, Collaboration and Help) Center, a 75,000-square-foot technology facility housing a 700-computer lab.

• A 200-AP deployment, nearly complete at the College of Liberal Arts, will start out as 802.11b/g and later activate the 11n capability already present in the Meru products.

• A pilot 802.11n network at the School of Medicine is enabling students to use high-bandwidth streaming video applications and download complex medical images to their laptop computers, even in packed lecture halls.

• In a new multi-story medical center to be completed next year, wireless will be the primary means of networking in the center's academic spaces.
Parts of the Meru WLAN replace an 802.11b network installed several years ago by another vendor and plagued with problems since then, said Michael Taylor, Temple's executive director of telecommunications.

"It took more than a year to make that network stable, and even then we were unhappy with it," Taylor said. "Clients would routinely disconnect while roaming, and with its limited number of channels and interference issues, it didn't come close to supporting the user densities typical of lecture halls. Then 802.11g came out, and we needed a way to deploy it without letting our 11b clients drag us down. We were constantly on the lookout for a new solution."

And while Temple's original wireless LAN was intended as a "network of convenience" – allowing students to check email or do other casual tasks while away from their desks – the university envisioned its new WLAN as a potential replacement for wired networks in academic settings. "Today students want to use wireless in the classrooms, for high-bandwidth medical applications – every way a wired network can be used," Taylor said. "Equally important, wireless is a money-saver on construction costs because we don't have to wire every seat in a lecture hall."

Meru's single-channel "virtual cell" architecture immediately solved Temple's client and density issues, Taylor said. "Users can move from access point to access point without even being aware of it. We're looking at Meru to move us into the next generation of wireless."

The Meru approach also simplifies network management for Taylor's team. "Every other vendor's product requires a detailed site survey, to figure out what you'll do about access point placement so as to avoid co-channel interference. With Meru the survey is much easier, and often not needed at all. In a given area you can provide coverage on a single channel, and then layer more channels to add capacity, without worrying about what's already there."

Meru access points being used in the Temple deployment are the AP201 single-radio IEEE 802.11a/b/g access point; the dual-radio AP311, with one 802.11a/b/g/n radio and one 802.11a/b/g radio (software-upgradeable to 11n); and the fixed-configuration MC3000 and chassis-based modular MC5000 series controllers. Meru's award-winning Air Traffic Control technology provides the WLAN with centralized intelligent RF management, advanced quality of service and security.

Meru's single-channel approach to wireless coverage minimizes interference by automatically selecting one channel for use enterprise-wide and layering additional channels where more capacity is required.

With all access points (APs) occupying the same channel in a single "virtual cell," the network can select the AP that will provide a given client with the highest data rate; reliability of wireless connections is maximized independent of client type, and the elimination of "handoffs" when mobile users move between APs reduces dropped connections. In contrast, most WLANs use a "micro cell" approach, which assigns different channels to adjacent AP cells, requiring precise and time-consuming channel planning and access point power adjustments, and limiting future network expansion.

About Temple University
Founded in 1884 by Dr. Russell Conwell, Temple College was chartered in 1884 and became Temple University in 1907. Today The comprehensive public research university's 34,000 students can choose from 300 undergraduate and graduate academic degree programs, and eight campuses in the greater Philadelphia area. For more information, visit
www.temple.edu.

About Meru Networks
Meru Networks develops and markets wireless infrastructure solutions that enable the All-Wireless Enterprise. Its industry-leading innovations deliver pervasive, wireless service fidelity for business-critical applications to major Fortune 500 enterprises, universities, healthcare organizations and local, state and federal government agencies. Meru's award-winning Air Traffic Control technology brings the benefits of the cellular world to the wireless LAN environment, and its WLAN System is the only solution on the market that delivers predictable bandwidth and over-the-air quality of service with the reliability, scalability and security necessary to deliver converged voice and data services over a single WLAN infrastructure.

Founded in 2002, Meru is based in Sunnyvale, Calif. For more information, visit www.merunetworks.com or call (408) 215-5300.