

Meraki Is Giving Startups $15K In Free Wi-Fi Gear - bobbybidon
http://techcrunch.com/2012/10/30/you-get-a-router-and-you-get-a-router-meraki-is-giving-startups-15k-in-free-wi-fi-gear/

======
thaumaturgy
We've deployed a number of challenging wifi installs over the last few years,
trying out a bunch of hardware+software approaches. Meraki is one of the ones
we haven't tried, mostly due to their enterprise cost.

So if you're interested in this kind of stuff but willing to try out something
other than Meraki, try Ubiquiti (<http://www.ubnt.com/>). They're our current
favorite wireless equipment vendor. Very reliable hardware, really really good
prices -- enterprise class wireless for close to off-the-shelf consumer
prices. I liked them a little better when their hardware could easily be
reflashed to Robin/open-mesh, but Open Mesh has since gone and moved to their
own hardware offerings, and Ubiquiti got hit pretty hard by the FCC for making
it too easy for hackers to circumvent radio power settings, so they tweaked
their ROM chip without updating their model numbers and everybody got screwed
by that for a while.

The Ubiquiti management console seems pretty decent so far. We just did an
installation for a client where we were seeing 10dB - 20db of difference
between his Cisco wireless router and the Ubiquiti unit in the same room. We
did have some trouble with Ubiquiti's Java-based management software that ate
up almost an hour of troubleshooting time, so there is that. There are ways to
do "cloud management" with Ubiquiti's hardware (I liked CloudTrax better...),
but it's not real great right now.

If you want to get a wireless point-to-point backhaul going up to around 8
miles, you can do that for about $3,000 of Ubiquiti gear -- really cheap for
that kind of thing.

Engenius is another popular brand. We initially liked them a lot, their
support for flashing their units to other control software was really good,
and Engenius still has a deal with CloudTrax, which is our preferred cloud
management software. Unfortunately, their radios just stink. We've had a ton
of hardware failures, and we've eaten the cost on some of those. I'm not sure
if that's the hot/cold differentials we get here or what, but they just don't
seem to last long. In fact ... come to think of it, I think every single one
of our Engenius units have been replaced out of necessity. Yuck.

We started out with the off-the-shelf Linksys / Cisco / other routers option,
and honestly those really aren't worth the trouble unless you just want basic
coverage with fancier management options. Now that Cisco has finished eating
Linksys, if you're looking for an up-to-date replacement for that trusty old
WRT54GL, try Buffalo's wireless routers. We set up a client with an N300 unit
not too long ago. The hardware seems really similar to the WRT54G series
(according to my hardware guy), but the built-in Buffalo software was already
basically dd-wrt so we didn't feel the need to re-flash.

~~~
brk
FWIw, I've had somewhat flaky results with Buffalo routers. The Ubiqiti gear
is solid though ( I too had previously used and recommended Engenious, until
one of my preferred distributors turn me on to Ubnt. )

The only real downside to Ubiqiti is the essential lack of tech support, if
you're not able to grok it on your own, then you're kind of SOL (though they
do have a great support forum).

The other big challenge to Ubiqiti has been the rampant counterfeiting issues
with their equipment, and of course the rumored 'mob hit' on one of their
competitors, lol.

------
wi28x
As an alternative, check out <http://open-mesh.com>.

The only good thing about Meraki is that their immoral (and potentially
illegal acts) led to the open mesh firmware of B.A.T.M.A.N. and RO.B.IN.

A company that started in an open source MIT project, that initially
encouraged hacking their firmware, transformed to retroactively changing their
EULA on hardware already bought, making it illegal to run any custom firmware
and then they aggressively increased their service fees.

From "happy hacking" to "screw you" - the story of Meraki
[http://www.virishi.net/from-happy-hacking-screw-you-story-
me...](http://www.virishi.net/from-happy-hacking-screw-you-story-meraki)

~~~
wmf
Just for clarity, the equipment that's being offered here isn't even mesh.
Meraki has moved almost totally away from mesh (which doesn't surprise me
since the people who are interested in mesh generally have no money).

------
niggler
What is with this bias against bootstrapped startups?

"We will be selecting from companies who:

Have raised Seed or Series A funding from a VC or established Angel Investors"

~~~
wmf
It's probably harder to verify whether a bootstrapped startup is "legit".

~~~
nodesocket
They are giving out of a serious amount of hardware, an angel or VC investment
shows a sign of commitment. Now, I am not saying there aren't very successful
and committed bootstrap startups, its just that Meraki needs a metric to
filter companies.

------
pdenya
What's the benefit for startups to use this versus a $30 off the shelf router?
It seems more for enterprises.

Also the title makes it sound like there's a giveaway with 15k worth of
routers or something but it's actually 15k per participating startup.

~~~
tlb
Meraki APs can handle hundreds of clients, while most off-the-shelf APs fail
beyond 8 or 16. You can manage them remotely. If someone is hogging your
bandwidth, you can boot them off remotely. Clients can roam seamlessly between
APs, which is essential when you have an office bigger than a few thousand
square feet. I felt it was worth the money.

~~~
pattern
As another datapoint, I have been using a crappy old Linksys WRT54GL plus
another $20 router to do every single thing you mention (except for handling
large numbers of clients - although I would guess it would handle at least 20+
no sweat).

It's all thanks to Toastman's[1] version of the Tomato firmware. I wrote up a
nice article[2] about my experience with the whole deal!

[1]: <http://toastmanfirmware.yolasite.com/> [2]:
[http://www.verdantrefuge.com/writing/2012/toastman-tomato-
fi...](http://www.verdantrefuge.com/writing/2012/toastman-tomato-firmware/)

------
shuzchen
Are startups in dire need of enterprise class wifi? The only purpose I can
imagine a startup needing their product is to put wifi in their office - but
wouldn't most office setups be wired? I'd like to see this offer extended to
community makerspaces, libraries or co-working spaces. A gift like this would
make a heck of a lot more difference (and I know quite a few that could use
it).

------
sh_vipin
It is only for Series-A funded companies. Wish TC had put this earlier in the
article.

~~~
carterschonwald
Agreed.

so its not really for "startups", its more of a trick to get companies with
capital to have a sales conversation with meraki.

Its a clever sales trick, but it also pisses me off. VC/Angel funding is not
the definition of a "legitimate" tech startups. (to borrow from recent oft
quoted phrases from recent political discourse)

