1. Wireless LANs (WLANs) for
Retailers
12 October 2006 Copyright © 2006 Meru Networks, All Rights Reserved.
Third party copyrights are the property of their respective copyright owners.

2. Meru Networks: innovative wireless
LAN (WLAN) solutions
• Meru’s converged voice, data, and
video WLAN platform sits at what the
Gartner Group calls "the high end of
the technology spectrum"
• Interoperable with existing networking
infrastructure, the platform can also be
used to create a wire-free all-wireless
enterprise
• The platform offers the lowest
available total cost of ownership
• Meru is a privately owned, Silicon
Valley technology company
• Founded in 2002, offices worldwide
• >35 patents granted or in process
• $68M in venture-backed funding
2

3. Target markets
• Meru’s target markets have critical
data, voice, and video applications
• Healthcare
•
Hospitals and clinics
• Education
•
K -12, colleges, and universities
• Retail
•
Department, convenience, and
specialty stores
•
Logistics centers and depots
• Enterprise
•
Corporate and branch offices
• Government
•
Facilities and programs
3

4. Retail trends are changing
• Enabling knowledge workers and
staff to become mobile allows
facilities to be better utilized, new
ERP and CRM initiatives to be
deployed, costs to be better
managed
• Growing use of dual-mode phones,
video, RFID, and PDAs must be
accommodated
By 2007 more than 66 percent of workers
will use mobile and wireless computing,
and that number will rise to 89% in 2008.
Mobility: Trends, Challenges and Solutions, Getronics, 2005
4

5. Productivity growth drives profitability and
holds the line on costs
• Productivity improvements drive
growth, raise profitability, and
control costs by allowing small IT
staffs to make the most of
available resources
• Wired networks don’t address
mobility needs, are costly to
modify
• A low-overhead networking
platform lowers costs by making
small IT staffs more productive
A 1,000 employee retailer could realize
$800,000 in savings from a 1% increase
in productivity.
Making the Case for Wireless Mobility Investment,
Mobile Competency, 2003
5

6. Reliable WLANs are the cornerstone of
information conduits
• Reliable conduits using
converged voice/video/data
encourage knowledge transfer
•
and collaboration
Retailers have dense, dynamic
99.9999%
user environments and mixed Up Time
clients
• Proprietary software/drivers are
anathema to IT management
A highly reliable WLAN allows a small
IT staff to focus attention on
productivity and growth-related
opportunities instead of infrastructure-
related problems
6

7. Interoperable solutions overlay on existing
infrastructure, preserve capital
• Retailers must squeeze higher
returns from existing assets while
paving the way for new applications
• Solutions must be easily deployable,
optimized for converged toll-quality
voice/video/data, and able to
withstand harsh environments such
as warehouses
Even if the initial use is for data, a WLAN
must support converged data, roaming
voice, and streaming video applications
because they will be needed in the future
7

8. The TCO of an IT solution can help or
hinder strategic educational objectives
• Lower total cost of ownership
(TCO) should be a key objective
of any IT infrastructure change
because it determines where
future funds will be directed
• Dynamic and rapidly evolving
retail environments require
flexible, adaptable solutions Source: Gartner Group
Loss of productivity and heightened
frustration due to IT equipment downtime
are factors in assessing TCO
Up to my knees in alligators, Getronics, 2003
8

9. Meru excels in wireless LANs for retail
• Meru offers best-of-class wireless LAN performance
that can be overlaid on an existing wired network or
replace it altogether
• Mobility: Toll quality voice over WLAN, voice mobility with no delays
or dropped calls
• Productivity: No complex channel surveys, easy
adds/moves/changes
• Connectivity: High density, high throughput, 802.11b/g fairness
• Interoperability: Standard clients (no proprietary CCX adapters),
converged voice / data/ streaming video on one network
• Lowest TCO: minimal IT management overhead, enables the all-
wireless facility
9

10. Meru’s robust, secure WLANs preserve
infrastructure investments
• Meru offers a scalable, standards-based WLAN with toll quality
voice, robust controllers, and an all-wireless backbone option
• Meru’s WLAN solution overlays on, and is interoperable with, existing Cisco
wired infrastructure, preserving this substantial capital investment
• Field-proven to interoperate with existing infrastructure products such as
Cisco Catalyst 7500, Cisco VPN, Cisco 7920 phones, and firewall, IDS,
authentication, security solutions
10

11. What can Meru do that others can’t?
Meru Radio Switch Network hundreds of users Meru Access Point
with mixed 802.11a/b/g
clients in high-density
conditions
Offer toll-quality,
simultaneous mobile voice
and data communications
with seamless hand-offs and
no dropped connections
Enhance wired networks
Meru AirShield with secure wireless voice Meru Wireless Backbone
and data – walk, talk, and
surf with confidence
Create an all-wireless
campus without the costs
and issues of a wired
network
11

12. Differentiating the old from the Meru
Older Centralized WLANs Meru’s Distributed Intelligent WLANs
Did not work well with different wireless cards (using Compatible with all wireless cards running at the
both 802.11a and 802.11b/g laptops reduced network same time (full network performance with 802.11a/b/g
performance) laptops)
Required extensive radio channel surveys prior to Does not require radio channel surveys, saves IT
installation and with every change, consumed IT staff staff time
time and budget
Access Points have to be carefully placed to avoid Access Points can be placed wherever needed
interference with each other, causes gaps in coverage without concern about interference, allows overlapping
if an Access Point fails coverage so the network still works normally if an
Access Points fails
Limited number of simultaneous users per Access >100 users per Access Point reduces the total
Point (≈10-15) requires more Access Points in high number of Access Points per facility
density facilities
Could not manage data and voice or streaming video Supports converged data, voice, and video on one
– sometimes separate networks were required for network, lowering costs and increasing flexibility
each
Rely on a combination of wired and wireless networks Enables the all-wireless facility without any wires
More susceptible to Denial-of-Service security risks Access Points block many types of Denial-of-Service
through the Access Points security attacks, improving security
12

13. What are the elements of Meru’s
comprehensive LAN platform?
E(z)RF
13

14. Access Points
• Single radio and dual radio Access Points for use with Meru
Controllers
• 802.11b/g and 802.11a radios simultaneously support a/b/g clients, offers market-
leading 802.11g performance in mixed 802.11b/g environments
• Zero configuration setup using plug and play architecture
• Automatic discovery and configuration
• Toll quality wireless VoIP performance using Air Traffic Control
• QoS ensured using deterministic scheduling of client transmissions and zero-
delay hand-off between virtual cells
• Highest user density environment support
• Provides 10x increase in client density with no degradation in quality
• Compatible with existing enterprise deployments
• Reassociation with non-Meru Access Points for hand-offs
• Multi-layered security with automatic rogue detection, location
positioning, and neutralization
• Every Access Point includes an integrated network sniffer for channel supervision
14

15. Radio Switches
• Radio switches include multiple software-configurable 802.11a/b/g
radios
• Provide simultaneous service to multiple 802.11b/g and 802.11a channels
• 802.11n ready backbone
• Provides the performance of multiple Access Points in a single
product
• Saves over 70% in deployment and ongoing management costs
• Radios can be assigned to client access, wireless hops to Access
Points, and/or wireless backbone
• Multiple radios can be assigned when more bandwidth is required, e.g.,
backbones
• Saturates large areas using Meru’s patent-pending, wideband
omnidirectional antennae
• Eliminates directional antenna purchases, simplifies RF planning and site
surveys
• Removes density/performance trade-off rules governing traditional
access points
• Allows all voice, video, and data WLAN channels to be extended without
degradation of wireless service or concern about the coverage area
• Works with existing clients
15

16. Controllers
• Coordinates Meru Access Points
• Centralized control for easy configuration and management
• Enforces WLAN security
• Enables plug-and-play deployment
• Provides RF resource management and mobility
• Coordinates contention management and QoS policies
• Simplifies Access Point deployment
• Eliminates channel planning and complex RF site surveys
• Zero-configuration with automatic selection of power and channel settings
• Enables toll-quality voice even in high density client environments
• Provides seamless client mobility across subnets
• Multi-layered security includes WPA, 802.11i, automatic rogue
access point prevention, and location-based access policies
• Static and dynamic 40-bit and 128-bit WEP keys, TKIP with MIC, access
control entries supported by user by AP (MAC filtering), multiple
ESSID/BSSID each with its own Security Policy
• “R” series Controllers provide redundant operation
16

17. E(z)RF™ Application Suite
• BASE software suite includes
dashboard, monitoring, configuration
settings and templates, reports, and user
administration
• VISUALIZE software suite complements the
BASE suite with real-time visualization for
viewing coverage, performance, and
diagnostic data
• EZRF-COV-PLNR software suite provides RF
coverage and survey data on existing RF
coverage
17

18. Meru Tailors Its Products To
Meet Retailers Needs:
Retailers Must Tailor Their Needs
To Competing Products
18

19. How does Meru overcome WLAN
limitations and what are the benefits?
• Meru’s Air Traffic Control technology resides in what the
Gartner Group calls "the high end of the technology
spectrum," resulting in the only Wi-Fi certified WLAN for toll-
quality voice and high-capacity data
• The net result is a superbly reliable WLAN that enhances every facet
of your organization, regardless of industry
Mobility Untethered freedom of movement
Productivity Lower IT workload
Connectivity High density, 802.11b/g fairness
Interoperability Standard (non-proprietary) clients
TCO Low installed / maintenance costs
19

20. Enhanced mobility:
Work everywhere with every device
• Meru’s secure cellular-like technology lets users work where they
need to, with Wi-Fi devices of their choosing
•
Stay connected while roaming with scanners, phones, tags, badges, PDAs,
PCs without the drop-outs or hand-off delays of micro cell networks
20

21. Enhanced productivity:
Faster installations, fewer headaches
• Meru requires no RF channel planning survey during installation or
for adds/moves/ changes
•
Self-configuring Controllers, Access Points with integrated network sniffers,
remote diagnostics, and downloadable upgrades allow Meru WLANs to be
quickly deployed without consuming IT staff time
•
Micro cell architectures requires time-consuming and costly RF channel
planning surveys pre-installation and following adds/moves/changes
Meru’s APs Coexist Micro cell APs Interfere With One
Harmoniously Another, Require Careful Planning
Virtual Cell
• IT managers praise Meru’s networking solutions because they
increase productivity by requiring less time to design, install, and
maintain
21

22. Enhanced connectivity: the reliability of a
wired network, the freedom of a wireless one
• Meru offers 10x density of competing alternatives and is ideal for
malls, food courts, depots, and warehouses
•
Overlay on existing wired networks or build all-wireless enterprises
•
Run 802.11b phones and g clients simultaneously without
degradation
Meru Radio
Switch
22

23. Enhanced interoperability:
Backward compatible, forward looking
• Meru’s WLANs are compatible with existing core infrastructure
•
Works with standard Wi-Fi clients including smart phones
•
Standards-based security built-in, interfaces with enterprise IDS/IPS,
encryption, authentication, and locationing solutions
Meru Wireless Backbone
• Meru’s platform forms the foundation for future all-wireless and
convergent fixed-mobile applications
23

24. Reduced TCO:
A platform on which you can afford to grow
• Meru’s WLAN platform supports data, voice, and
streaming video
•
Cost-effective for a single application, the platform can handle all
three
• Meru’s WLANs alleviate the high TCO associated with
supporting a micro cell deployment, or maintaining and
updating separate networks for data, voice, and video
24

25. Meru Improves the Total
User Experience:
Other WLANs Have Severe
Limitations
25

26. Phone: Cisco phones work better on
Meru’s networks
• Cisco wireless phones work better on Meru’s networks
• Toll-quality voice while roaming, dynamic control of over-the-air communication
• WPA / WPA2 Enterprise Mode with zero hand-off, a Meru exclusive
•
High QoS voice in converged data/video networks, no need for parallel networks
•
High density operation with more clients per Access Point, lowers costs
In WLAN tests using Cisco 7920 phones + Cisco Unified CallManager®,
Meru supported 10 simultaneous calls with MOS scores >4,
Cisco supported 4 simultaneous calls with MOS scores <4.
• Other WLANs just weren’t designed for voice
• No contention management, no traffic management, no resource management, no
admission control, no upstream QoS reservation, no scalable QoS without additional
higher layer system software
•
Closely spaced Access Points aggravates co-channel interference, distant spacing
reduces coverage and channel access
• QoS is dependent on proprietary CCX client adapters - difficult to manage and
burdensome for guest access
26

27. Data: Meru’s networks offer higher density,
higher performance
• Meru has proven solutions for dense client and high throughput applications
• Selected for world’s largest WLAN enterprise network (30,000 Access points) at a Top-10
U.S. School District – the first installation provides 500Mbps per classroom with redundant
failover
•
Highest user density production deployment - 100+ active users per Access Point (AP) at
Northern Michigan University
• World’s largest single channel deployment - 2000 APs at University of Miami Medical
Hospital
• Other WLANs lag far behind Meru with respect to both density and throughput
• Meru has 10x client density for data, 5x for voice
• Meru has demonstrated >6x throughput in dense data applications
27

28. Innovation: Meru is enabling the all-wireless
campus
• Meru drives innovation and invention into the WLAN market –
architecting the all-wireless network
• Scalable wireless pipes provide robust and secure backbones, an industry
first
• Standard voice and data clients get wire-like performance, an industry first
• The innovative RS 4000 Radio Switch incorporates four radios and supports
dual 802.11a and dual 802.11g operation, an industry first
• Meru’s platform uses an extensible architecture that grows more powerful
without forklift upgrades, an industry first
Meru Wireless Backbone
28

29. $€£¥ Meru Lowers the Total
$€£¥
Cost Of Ownership:
Other WLANs Have Higher
Life-Cycle Costs
29

30. Mobility metric
• Meru lets all users walk, talk, and surf - all at the same time
•
Users can roam reliably during voice calls, increasing their mobility as well as
their ability to multi-task
•
Cisco voice quality drops with >4 voice calls on the same Access Point. How
should this be managed?
• Scenario: department store with 150 staff members and dual-mode
phones
•
Average hourly staff wage: $40
•
Average calls per day requiring walk to the next task: 30
•
Average time to reach the next task after a call: 1 minute
• Cisco’s poor mobility results in 27,375 hours of lost time, or
$1,095,000 of lost wages per year
•
((1 min. x 30 tasks) / 60 min.) x 150 users x 365 days = 27,375 hrs
•
$40 hour x 27,375 hours = $1,095,000 (≈854,000€)
30

31. Productivity metric
• Meru leads the industry in the ratio of users-to-Access Points and
guaranteed access to bandwidth
• Cisco requires more APs in high-density environments, increasing equipment
and installation costs
• Scenario: warehouse with 200 staff with 802.11b/g laptops, all of
which must download a 5MB SKU update within five minutes
• Meru can download the data to all staff members in <5 minutes using 3 APs
Meru installation cost: 3 APs@$795 + 3 inst.@$500 = $3,885 (3,030€)
•
• Cisco requires >50 minutes using 14 APs to download the data
Cisco installation/survey cost: 14 APs@$899 + 14 inst.@$582 = $20,734 (15,918€)
•
• Staff members lose work time using a Cisco network, whereas with a
Meru network they can be productive in minutes
31

32. Connectivity metric
• Meru provides fair access to 802.11b/g clients
•
Cisco is slow to associate new clients + 802.11g throughput degrades in the
presence of b clients
•
Meru 18Mbps vs. Cisco 9Mbps with only 10 g clients and 1 b client
• Scenario: retailer with 2 Access Points and 25 inventory clerks who
must log-in their mixed 802.11b/g laptops at the start of a shift
•
Meru logs in all clerks in ≤3 minutes
•
Field data shows Cisco requires ≈6 minutes to log in each group of 4 clerks,
or (6 minutes x (25 / 4) students) 37.5 minutes for all clerks
• Clerks lost >35 minutes during log-ins using a Cisco network,
but only 3 minutes using a Meru network
32

33. Interoperability metric
• Meru’s WLANs work with standard clients, eliminating the need to
install, track, and update custom clients or adapters
•
Cisco requires proprietary CCX client adapters on every device for micro cell
power management - CCX patch management, RF tuning, and new client
troubleshooting are IT burdens
•
Cisco’s management tool points to a problem but doesn’t solve it – Meru
doesn’t have the problem to begin with
•
Non-CCX guest access requires a separate network
• Scenario: retail chain with 2500 clients (laptops, PDAs, phones), 40
sites, 200 vendor visitors per month
•
Average time to load/verify Cisco CCX adapter: 30 minutes each
•
Churn rate (new/replacement devices): 5% (125) per month
• 1st year overhead managing Cisco client adapters: 2000 hours
•
(2500 clients x 30 min.) + ((125 clients x 30 min.) x 12 mos.) = 120,000 minutes or 2000 hours
33

34. TCO metric
• Meru’s Air Traffic Control technology minimizes the need for RF
channel planning
•
Cisco requires RF planning to avoid adjacent channel interference, and more
APs to provide adequate coverage, adding cost and complexity
• Scenario: 100 room home furnishing superstore (100,000 sq. ft. total),
each room must be covered by 2 APs for seamless roaming (20 APs
required in total )
•
Cisco survey time is >4x longer than Meru
• IT productivity for surveys is 1 hour per 7,040 sq. ft. with Cisco,
productivity with Meru is 1 hour per 32,260 sq. ft.
34

35. TCO metric
Cisco Meru
Construct •Manually draw estimated coverage areas. • Coverage Planner software automatically generates a report
Proposal and •Record planned access point information. including network coverage and performance maps plus AP
Work Order •Write proposal with estimated coverage maps, AP location information.
locations, antenna types and transmit powers. • Write proposal using automatic report
TOTAL TIME: 3 hours TOTAL TIME: 0.3 hours
Pre- • Each planned AP location requires three readings per • For each planned AP location, walk through the coverage area of
Deployment room using a utility shipped with the network card. the AP and update the Coverage Planner map in each room with
Survey Record readings. 1 minute per room one mouse click. 20 seconds per room
• Time required to walk the entire site: 60 minutes • Time required to walk the entire site: 60 minutes
• TOTAL TIME: 2.7 hours TOTAL TIME: 1.5 hours
Post- • Each planned AP location requires three readings per • For each planned AP location, walk through the coverage area of
Deployment room per AP using a utility shipped with the network the AP and update the map in each room with one mouse click.
Survey card. Record readings. 2 minutes per room Included in site walking time – no additional time required.
• Time required to walk the entire site: 60 minutes • Time required to walk the entire site: 60 minutes
• TOTAL TIME: 4.3 hours TOTAL TIME: 1 hour
Reporting •Manually draw coverage maps for each access point and • Automatically generate report with two mouse-clicks
record access point MAC-addresses, access point • Additional site notes, as needed: 15 minutes
locations, channels, and installation notes. 2.5 minutes
per room
TOTAL TIME: 4.2 hours TOTAL TIME: 0.25 hours
TOTAL 14.2 hours total - 1 hour / 7,040 sq. ft. 3.1 hours total - 1 hour / 32,260 sq. ft.
35

36. Summary
Others Meru
Mobility Limited Untethered
Productivity High IT workload Low IT workload
Connectivity Slow, low-density Fast, high-density
Interoperability Proprietary clients Standards-based
TCO High Low
Meru’s platform is innovative, fast, extensible,
user-friendly, and cost-effective
36

37. Meru has a track record of helping
customers meet their strategic objectives
"WLAN connectivity allows organizations to cost-effectively support on-campus
workers with voice and data applications that can significantly improve
communications and workflow inside the enterprise," said David Werezak, Vice
President, Research In Motion. "Meru's WLAN infrastructure with its reliable
connectivity and seamless coverage provides a solid foundation for the
BlackBerry WLAN solution."
To provide wireless coverage, SUNY Farmingdale deployed Meru access points
spaced only 30 feet apart from each other. Gladson George, Network Administrator,
SUNY Farmingdale, said, "This high density set-up would not have been possible
without Meru's unique Air Traffic Control technology. With Meru's ability to
coordinate all of the access points in this area and successfully manage signal
contention, we can deliver wireless access in the most demanding of environments."
“We evaluated several wireless LAN products, but when we saw Meru’s
demonstration, our decision was easy,” said James Pierce, Chief Information
Officer, The Monitor Group. “We were able to configure and deploy the
system, with consistent security and access policies, in a matter of
minutes…Meru’s ability to handle multiple data applications, as well as voice,
to meet our future needs, convinced us that Meru was the only WLAN
solution that made sense.”
37

38. Sales, support, training worldwide
Meru Networks
Corporate Headquarters
Sunnyvale, California 94087
Tel: +1-408-215-5300
Fax: +1-408-215-5301
www.merunetworks.com
38