New Meru WLAN products promise toll-quality wireless VoIP

- Gary Thayer, News Editor

San Francisco, Feb. 14, 2005 -- (MobileVillage) -- Meru Networks today announced a family of new WLAN products, including: Meru's new System Director Version 3 software and family of new WLAN controllers that work with the company's AP200 access points to create a coordinated "cellular WLAN" architecture.

The new architecture promises an easily scalable WLAN infrastructure capable of providing wireless VoIP with the reliability and quality of wired VoIP, according to Meru. Unlike other WLAN systems in which access points work independently and must be laboriously configured to deliver adjacent, non-overlapping coverage, Meru says its new WLAN products use a coordinated, "cellular" architecture in which all access points (APs) work together to provide a blanket of coverage that scales transparently and delivers guaranteed quality of service to every WLAN user.

Meru System Director version 3 is the latest version of Meru's system software. Version 3 allows users to create a WLAN that includes 802.11a, 802.11b, and 802.11g access points (APs), and manage them all as a single coordinated infrastructure. Using Meru's AP200 Universal Access Points, System Director version 3 can deliver wireless service to any user via any 802.11 mode at any time, according to Meru.

Meru System Director Version 3 also adds new security and management functionality that promises greater flexibility and control for the administrator with two features:

Virtual Wireless LANs: System Director now supports up to 64 Virtual Wireless LANs, allowing organizations to run multiple separate logical networks over the same physical Wireless LAN network. Each virtual Wireless LAN can have its own security, QoS, and 802.11 beacon policies to meet the needs of different administrative domains.

Captive Portal: The new Captive Portal feature isolates unauthenticated users to a sign-on portal until the user provides the necessary identification credentials. The administrator can customize the user login page by uploading HTML pages and graphics through the Web Interface. When the Captive Portal is enabled, all user traffic is blocked. Once the user opens up a Web browser and tries to access any website, the user is redirected to the Meru Controller's SSL encrypted (https) login page. Authentication can also be integrated with the enterprise RADIUS server.

Meru is also extending its product line with three new WLAN controllers to compliment its existing MC1100 MultiService Controller product:

• The Meru MC3000 Enterprise Controller is targeted at use by corporate headquarters, and provides voice and data services for up to 150 Access Points simultaneously.
  
• The Meru MC1000 Edge Controller is targeted at smaller networks of up to 30 access points. It comes in two models -- the MC1015 for up to 15 APs, and the MC1030 for up to 30APs.
  
• The Meru MC500 Remote Controller is designed for remote or branch office applications, and can be used for extending Meru's voice and data 802.11 a/b/g network to offices requiring up to 5 Access Points.

Also new is the Meru AP200 Universal Access Point, targeted for use by the satellite office with its new "Remote AP" feature. AP200 Universal Access Points can operate without an on-site controller in satellite offices, providing local switching for communication between resources while providing a secure WLAN with centralized policies and control from a Meru Controller at headquarters.

Meru did not provide pricing details. For more information see the Meru web site, or the companys's summary page on MobileVillage.

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