Xirrus Introduces Rapid Deployment Wi-Fi Kit for Disaster Response and Temporary Events

Self-contained Kit Enables Fast, Simple Roll Out of Robust Wireless Networks

Xirrus, Inc., the Wi-Fi “Power-Play” that delivers the most wireless coverage, bandwidth, and throughput in the industry, announced today a portable, pre-packaged kit designed for the rapid and simple deployment of Wi-Fi networks in temporary applications. Unlike other Wi-Fi networking solutions which require many different components, the Xirrus Wi-Fi Array integrates everything needed to deploy a large coverage, high density Wi-Fi network supporting up to hundreds of clients into a single device. This makes the Wi-Fi Array the ideal fit for portable applications such as disaster response command posts; high-density events such as conferences and expositions; and short-term events such as festivals, markets, and fairs.

The pre-packaged, self-contained Wi-Fi deployment kit includes:

• Xirrus Wi-Fi Array: Includes 4 or 8 access points, antennas, Wi-Fi controller, switch, firewall, RADIUS server, DHCP server, and management in one device
• Mounting Tripod
• Data and Power Cables
• Ruggedized carrying cases

“We designed the Xirrus Rapid Deployment Wi-Fi Kit for deployment simplicity. The Wi-Fi Array, around which the kit is based, integrates all the elements needed to deploy a Wi-Fi network into a single device,” said Bruce Miller, Vice President of Product Marketing at Xirrus. “The kit comes with all the necessary mounting hardware and cabling and is pre-configured to work out of the box. A Wi-Fi network for hundreds of users can literally be set up in less than 10 minutes. With a range well over 1,000 feet line-of-site outdoors and 200-500 feet indoors depending on environment, the Array is the only solution of its kind for setting up a pervasive wireless network with such simplicity.”

“Adding the Xirrus Wi-Fi Array to our Disaster Recovery solution has allowed us to become more flexible and provide access to an even greater amount of clients – it covers a large area while providing stable and reliable network services to our clients,” said Jake Cordova, Information Services Department, County of San Bernardino. “To provide immediate assistance to those who have been affected by a disaster, it is crucial to establish this capability quickly with the least amount of devices and power possible.”

Xirrus Rapid Deployment Wi-Fi Kits can be ordered online at the Xirrus Store at http://www.store.xirrus.com.

Xirrus Rapid Deployment Kit 100

• 100 concurrent users
• Price: $3,999

Xirrus Rapid Deployment Kit 200

• 200 concurrent users
• Price: $5,999

Prestigious Edgbaston Cricket Ground Replaces Wired Switches with Wi-Fi

Xirrus Wi-Fi Array Have Been Installed Throughout the Cricket Ground to Improve Media Connectivity During County and International Matches

 

Xirrus, Inc., the Wi-Fi “Power-Play” that delivers the most wireless coverage, bandwidth, and throughput in the industry announced today the deployment of their Wi-Fi Arrays at the prestigious Edgbaston Cricket Ground in the United Kingdom. The Wi-Fi Arrays were installed to replace wired workgroup switches in order to supply large amounts of bandwidth to the many journalists covering the cricket matches. Xirrus was selected because only their Wi-Fi Arrays are powerful enough to wirelessly deliver the same quality of service as a workgroup switch.

Established as a Test Cricket venue for over 100 years, and designed to meet the highest specifications, the Edgbaston Cricket Ground has a long and proud history as the finest indoor cricket facility in the United Kingdom. Situated at Edgbaston, the home of Warwickshire County Cricket, the centre boasts a range of facilities to meet cricket, community and corporate needs. It is the only International Test stadium within the West Midlands and in an average year, major matches staged at the ground attract up to 200,000 spectators.

“To better serve the media personnel covering cricket matches at Edgbaston, we chose to install a Wi-Fi network, allowing these major media companies to connect their PCs, MACs, and PDAs to the Internet to send large image files take with 30MP SLR cameras down to their London offices as well as for the BBC and Sky Sports commentators to keep up-to-date on team news and match reports,” said James McLaughlin, Commercial Director at Edgbaston. “We’ve had spotted coverage from traditional access points in the past, but with our new WAN link of dual 100MB fibers, we wanted a Wi-FI network that would compliment this speed and allow us to replace wired switches in the press boxes.”

“The traditional access points we tested could not supply enough bandwidth for 50 plus users seated in these small 80 feet by 20 feet press boxes,” continued James. “However, the Wi-Fi Array by Xirrus had no problem with the task—all our users connected immediately and stayed connected without any issues for the entire 5-day match. Thanks to the Xirrus solution, we had the coverage, user density, and bandwidth needed to permanently replace our temporary APs and the wired workgroup switches. Anyone looking for a simple, cost effective, and powerful solution must give Xirrus a call—there is nothing else like it on the market today.”

“Xirrus was selected because we provided a cost effective Wi-Fi network delivering the most bandwidth while using only a handful of devices to cover the entire cricket centre,” said Dave Kynaston, European Business Manager at Wireless LAN Source. “We are honored to have our products deployed at such legendary UK sporting facility.”

“Wireless LAN Source was tasked by Edgbaston to build a world-class Wi-Fi network that would give the press and staff access to wireless applications throughout the cricket grounds,” said Chris Allen, Regional Sales Manager (UK) at Xirrus. “Using our high performance Wi-Fi Arrays allows more users to connect with more bandwidth using fewer devices than traditional Wi-Fi products from other Vendors.”

Wireless LAN Source
Wireless LAN Source Ltd was founded in 2003 and is a specialist provider of wireless networking equipment and antennas. Since its inception, Wireless LAN Source has experienced year on year growth of 100% and has established itself as the leading provider of solutions and hardware in the wireless networking arena. For more information, please visit wlansource.co.uk.

Chicago School Improves Network Performance For Students with Xirrus Wi-Fi Arrays

The Catherine Cook School Solves Performance Issues by Upgrading to Xirrus Wi-Fi Arrays

 

Xirrus, Inc., the Wi-Fi “Power-Play” that delivers the most wireless coverage, bandwidth, and throughput in the industry announced today the deployment of their Wi-Fi Arrays across The Catherine Cook School, located in Chicago, Illinois. The Catherine Cook School replaced their existing Access Point infrastructure with Xirrus Wi-Fi Arrays to gain better network performance for their one-to-one computer initiative and real-time learning applications used by students and teachers. The transition to the Xirrus Wi-Fi Arrays was quick, seamless, and provided the school with the necessary bandwidth for Wi-Fi to be their primary network connection.

“We have a one-to-one laptop program in place for our 4th-8th grade students, which requires reliable network access campus-wide to be successful,” said Bill Mierisch, Director of Technology at Catherine Cook School. “In addition to this group of 125 students, we also have two mobile laptop carts with 40 computers serving over 200 younger students, 10 wireless desktop computers stationed in classrooms, and an assortment of more than 100 laptops, Blackberrys®, iPhones®, and Windows® Mobile® smartphones used by our staff and parent volunteers.”

“We called in Xirrus to fix the emerging problems of our Cisco wireless implementation—things like maxed out controllers due to our increasing enrollment, network cost over-runs, and arcane skill sets required to manage the network,” continued Bill. “One particular application that was vital to our classroom success was DyKnow®, a classroom management and instructional software package operating over Port 80. With the Cisco’s products, we were getting persistent instabilities, which frustrated our teachers and students alike. We knew we had to find a solution that was sustainable over the long term, give us the ability to connect large masses of students in small spaces, and scale for future considerations.”

“Xirrus helped us expand our network capacity with both excellent products and great ideas,” continued Bill. “With over 90% of our clients able to use the 5Ghz band, our capacity for connections increased exponentially with Xirrus’ multi-radio Arrays. What’s more, during our roll-out, Xirrus helped us identify a problem that had lurked without our knowledge on a legacy server, which resulted in a dramatic drop-off in support calls relating to client connectivity.”

“Thanks to Xirrus, we no longer need an AP in every room,” added Bill. “In fact, for roughly the cost of what our Cisco upgrade alone would have set us back, we now have a network that works, is stable, and has the ‘headroom’ we need to support an increasing enrollment in our school. As for the Wi-Fi facelift, we were up and running in just hours, and did not need to pull any new wiring or add anything other than the Xirrus Arrays. In fact, we did not even announce to our users that we had made the switch. It happened seamlessly, with folks returning to school from Winter Break not even aware that anything had changed, expect for improved performance. As for DyKnow—we are getting far greater ROI thanks to the increased reliability and ability of the Wi-Fi Arrays to handle heavy traffic.”

“It is crucial to have confidence in your Wi-Fi network,” added Bill. “If teachers can’t rely on connectivity, they simply cannot – and will not – do the exciting, engaging, and rewarding teaching that such a program affords. We are more confident now thanks to Xirrus, and it is making a difference in what teachers are willing to do. That means more opportunities for our kids to learn, and for us, that’s the real measure of return-on-investment.”

“Like many organizations we are called in to help, The Catherine Cook School realized that traditional APs cannot handle the user capacity or bandwidth required to be the primary network connection,” said Eric Dean, Regional Manager at Xirrus. “The school quickly realized the need for a better medium and called us in to see what we could do. Working together, we developed a plan and successfully implemented a Wi-Fi system that will support their students and staff for years to come.”

Xirrus Press Contact
John Merrill
E-mail: john.merrill@xirrus.com
Phone: +1.805.262.1644

 

About Xirrus
Xirrus, the only Wi-Fi “Power-Play”, manufacturers the Wi-Fi Array® architecture that displaces both overlay Wi-Fi offerings and switched Ethernet to the desktop. The Wi-Fi Array integrates 4, 8, 12, 16, or 24 802.11abg+n radios coupled to a high-gain directional antenna system into a single device along with an onboard multi-gigabit switch, Wi-Fi controller, firewall, dedicated Wi-Fi threat sensor, and an embedded spectrum analyzer. The Wi-Fi Array provides more than enough bandwidth, security, and control to replace switched Ethernet to the desktop as the primary network connection. The Xirrus Wi-Fi Array delivers the most coverage, bandwidth, throughput, and user density on a per device and per system basis than anything else available on the market today – resulting in a solution that uses 75% fewer devices, cabling, switch ports, power, space, and installation time compared with any other offering.

Xirrus is a privately-held company headquartered in Thousand Oaks, California. For more information, please visit www.xirrus.com.

Xirrus – Switching: Without Wires™

Xirrus – High Performance Wi-Fi™

Xirrus – The Air is the Network™

Xirrus – Wi-Fi Array®

Poudre School District Selects Xirrus to Cover All 50 Schools

School District Saves Money, Time, and Energy by Selecting Xirrus for Wi-Fi Network

 

Xirrus, Inc., the Wi-Fi “Power-Play” that delivers the most wireless coverage, bandwidth, and throughput in the industry announced today the deployment of their Wi-Fi Arrays across Poudre School District (PSD) in Fort Collins, Colorado servicing over 27,000 students, faculty, staff across 50 schools including 32 elementary schools, 10 junior high schools, and 6 high schools. The district-wide deployment is part of an overall learning initiative to use cost-effective, energy-saving technologies that will improve the collaboration and learning between students and teachers—to support and inspire every child to think, to learn, to care, and to graduate prepared to be successful in a changing world—with notebook computers and adaptive Braille Sense devices for the blind.

“There were many reasons we chose to deploy Xirrus, over all the other Wi-Fi vendors” said Victor Rosengren, Telecommunications Manager at PSD. “First, our biggest requirement in selecting our Wi-Fi network was density support—finding a Wi-Fi solution that would scale as we grow over time from mobile laptop labs to a laptop for every student. Second, budgets are always tight, so we needed a solution that would not cost an arm and a leg to install and manage. Xirrus offered us the perfect solution for our needs. By integrating multiple radios and the wireless switch into a single device, we were able to deploy these Wi-Fi Arrays quickly and more cost-effectively without the need of adding large numbers of cable runs and switch ports.”

“Third, we are well known for our energy efficient building projects and our sustainability management process, in fact, we have the first school in the nation to receive the LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) for schools Gold rating,” added Victor. By selecting Xirrus, which uses less switch ports, PoE boxes, and access points, we were able to extend our energy savings to our wireless network.”

“Xirrus is refreshingly different from most companies we’ve worked with,” added Victor. “These guys are dedicated to our success. They demonstrated why their solution is superior, conducted a real-world site survey, installed the network, and trained us on the system – all for no additional fee. And the clincher, they gave us a signal strength guarantee ensuring that we’d have the coverage we were promised.”

“Leading school districts like Poudre realize that Wi-Fi does not need to be complicated or expensive to be successful,” said Curtis Reid, Regional Manager at Xirrus. “Wireless networks should take fewer devices and cable runs than wired networks, not more. It’s been great working with Poudre to deploy this state-of-the-art Wi-Fi network that will enable them to better utilize their valuable resources as they continue to provide more educational services to their students and teachers. Find out for yourself why Xirrus is the most powerful Wi-Fi solution on the market today.”

To view this press release, as well as many others, please click here.

Internationally Recognized Montessori/IB School and teaching institute Adopt Xirrus 802.11n

Toronto Montessori Schools (TMS) and Toronto Montessori Institute (TMI) Install Xirrus® 802.11abg+n Wi-Fi Arrays™ to Improve Student and Teacher Learning

 

Xirrus, Inc., the Wi-Fi “Power-Play” that delivers the most wireless coverage, bandwidth, and throughput in the industry announced today that the internationally recognized Toronto Montessori Schools (TMS) and Toronto Montessori Institute (TMI), Canada’s first and largest Montessori, has selected to install Xirrus 802.11abg+n Wi-Fi Arrays to deliver high speed internet access for student and teacher online learning.

Internationally recognized and established in 1961, Toronto Montessori Schools (TMS) , is a co-ed, independent university preparatory School. Along with educating over 750 students ranging in age from 18 months to 18 years, TMS also houses Toronto Montessori Institute (TMI), which is one of North America’s leading centres for the training of Montessori teachers and ongoing research into childhood development.

“It is critical that we utilize world-class technology to further the learning and development of our teachers and students,” said Ben Medina, Director of Information Technology for TMS and TMI. “We view Wi-Fi as a means of furthering the collaboration and learning process—by giving Internet access to online educational programs with mobile labs today and a full blown 1:1 student computer program down the road—allowing teachers and students to work and learn more efficiently. However, most of the Wi-Fi architectures I’ve investigated require large amounts of individual access points being tied to a remote controller. Sure, this allows for central management, but at the cost of wiring and security—there had to be a better solution.”

“I was overwhelmed with the Xirrus presentation and product solution—their method of integrating many access points and the controller into a single device, allows me to cut back on the wiring, saving the School and Institute both time and cost, and enhancing internet access security,” added Ben. “As we build out our 1:1 computer initiative, I feel confident we have the Wi-Fi product to make that transition successful.”

“Schools around the world are quickly realizing and adopting Wi-Fi as the primary network connection for users—Toronto Montessori Schools is a great example of that,” said Steve Armes, Regional Manager at Xirrus. “By adopting Xirrus’ 802.11n architecture, Toronto Montessori Schools has delivered a powerful, robust, and secure wireless network that will assist in furthering the education of its students and teachers for years to come.”

For more about this deployment, please click here.

For more about Xirrus, please go to http://www.xirrus.com

Catholic Education Office Sandhurst Increases Network Efficiency with Xirrus

Xirrus, Inc., the Wi-Fi “Power-Play” that delivers the most wireless coverage, bandwidth, and throughput in the industry announced today the deployment of their 802.11abg+n Wi-Fi Arrays at the Catholic Education Office Sandhurst (CEO), which oversees the schools of the Sandhurst Catholic Diocese, Australia.

The Catholic Education Office Sandhurst provides services and support to the school in the Sandhurst Diocese. The Sandhurst Diocese has 43 Primary Schools and 11 Secondary Schools ranging in size from 16 to 550 students each.

“We wanted a high performance Wi-Fi network that would allow our staff to move around the office, but still have network connectivity, said Tom Sexton, Consultant: Facilities and Resources at the CEO. “We looked at several Wi-Fi vendors, but found them to lack in their ability to penetrate our thick brick walls and deliver the necessary bandwidth for out application needs. Besides being impressed with the performance at DOXA School and Galen Catholic College, they came when we called, installed the product quickly, and guaranteed the signal strength based on their real-world site survey.”

“Any organization looking to unfetter users from the desk should check out the Xirrus Wi-Fi Array—their 802.11n Wi-Fi Arrays offer the same user experience as wired, but without all the headaches and expenses involved with wired networks,” added Tom. “We have a Wi-Fi network that can support all of network traffic—from notebooks to handhelds…from Internet access to streaming video—the 11n Arrays handle it all.”

For the whole press release, please click here.

Concord Music Group Deploys Xirrus Wi-Fi Arrays

Concord Music Group (CMG) is one of the largest independent record and music publishing companies in the world. CMG, located in Beverly Hills, CA, chose to install Xirrus Wi-Fi 802.11n Arrays. CMG went with Xirrus because they make it possible for their staff and clients to access the network and Internet wirelessy that can be compared to the same experience as a wired connection.

Edward Ginis, VP Information services and Technology at CMG, wanted to install a “wireless network to enable flexibility and enhance productivity” of their staff and client, but wanted it to provide the same experience as a wired network.

CMG chose to deploy Xirrus because their 802.11n solution “required far less devices, cable pulls, closet space, and power consumption,” while giving more bandwidth and throughput than any other vendors. Xirrus came, installed, and guaranteed the signal strength.

To go directly to the press release, proceed here.

For more on Xirrus, please visit them here.

Xirrus deploys at American School of Milan

Xirrus has just announced their deployment of 802.11abg+n Wi-Fi Arrays at the American School of Milan (ASM) in Milan, Italy. ASM upgraded their network to Xirrus 802.11n in order to provide greater capacity and bandwidth to their growing population of Wi-Fi users across their Milan Elementary and High Schools, including classrooms, science labs, library, cafeteria, and faculty offices.

ASM hosts over 600 students from 35 different countries. Their goal is to provide all of the students with an educational environment rich in technology, where students are able to discover and develop their abilities to achieve personal results of absolute excellence.

ASM’s growing population needed more wireless coverage and bandwidth, but the traditional access points started to become expensive and time consuming.

With the deployment of Xirrus, Stephen Reiach, Director of Technology at ASM, explains that “Xirrus got it right – by comibing the essential Wi-Fi components into a single device. ASM was able to install a powerful Wi-Fi network that distributes the intelligence and security clsoe to users while giving them central control of the network.

Check out the rest of the article at http://green.tmcnet.com/news/2008/12/16/3858556.htm

Or go to Xirrus at http://www.xirrus.com

Washburn University Deploys Xirrus Arrays

Interested in learning about Xirrus products and their company and deployments, I’ve signed up for Google Alerts to follow every move that Xirrus makes.

Xirrus has just recently successfully installed their Wi-Fi Arrays at Washburn University in Topeka, Kansas. Washburn University decided to deploy Xirrus Arrays instead of any other traditional access point because “they were the only Wi-Fi architecture capable of handling the user density and performance.”

The campus at Washburn University is 160 acres, so you can imagine how big of a task Xirrus took on. Washburn University found that deploying Xirrus Arrays would be the best solution for them because they were more efficient and covered more users with less equipment and wires. Xirrus is able to do this because they differ from traditional access points because Xirrus Arrays are not chained to closet controllers.

You can read the full press release here:

http://www.xirrus.com/cgi-bin/press_releases.cgi?id=238&template=1