Meraki, the company that brought us the $49 Meraki mini indoor access point and router, has just released a $99 outdoor mesh node which is really the weatherproofed version of the Meraki mini. And you can get a solar kit with it too.Meraki, the company that brought us the $49 Meraki mini indoor access point and router, has just released a $99 outdoor mesh node which is really a weather-proofed version of the Meraki mini. According to the website, the outdoor router has an external 2dBi antenna that can send a wireless signal 100 to 250 meters (300 to 750 feet); with third-party directional antennas, they can reach 8 kilometers or more.
In addition, you can get a solar kit to attach to the outdoor mini so no need to find an electric plug for the router. The solar kit is not included in the $99 price.
Meraki’s indoor and outdoor mesh routers allow people to share their broadband connections with their neighbors. This is very handy for people on a budget. You will need a lot of bandwidth, however, if you are going to share among a lot of users.
Read more about the Meraki outdoor mini on Om Malik’s website.
The Meraki gear has worked real well for us in testing so far. The price can’t be beat, and it really provides an interesting platform for large scale deployment.
-Dane