When customers deploy Meru networks, they get the return on investment they were expecting from wireless.
Why are virtual ports a big step?
Access points have essentially been shared hubs. Now we have made the wireless LAN into a switched infrastructure, isolating each device and each user from each other. Only it's more than that, because it turns the cable into a fabric, and the user gets the same port anywhere in the building, or on the campus.
We really believe this will change enterprise networking. Combined with the fast 802.11n standard, it can deliver all the advantages and benefits of wired networks, plus full mobility, at around one-fifth of the cost of a wired port.
Does it really work that well? It must be hard to set up a wireless LAN on a single channel, when most buildings are surrounded by interference on all channels from public and private Wi-Fi in neighboring buildings.
We've not noticed this, even with users like the School District of Philadelphia. There we had 30,000 radios in 100 buildings, and we had to negotiate with Philadelphia's famous municipal Wi-Fi network - and that is an outdoor network which is allowed to operate at much higher power levels than our indoor equipment.
