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ScientificAmerican.com

August 06, 2007

Meraki's Guerilla Wi-Fi to Put a Billion More People Online

Like some kind of techno-utopian Johnny Appleseed, a start-up called Meraki wants to cover the earth with ad hoc Wi-Fi networks

By Christopher Mims

Harlem's first Starbucks, heralded as a sign of urban renewal when it opened in 1999, sits at the intersection of 125th Street and Lenox Avenue, just down the street from the historic Apollo Theater. One recent weekday morning, customers of every imaginable race and socioeconomic stratum pour through the coffee chain's doors, where a massive portrait of its most famous investor, basketball great Magic Johnson, graces one of its walls.

I grab a seat near the window and try to get on a wireless network—of the three I can see, only one is open. Seconds later I'm checking my e-mail.

It's a lucky break—for all the promises of universal Internet, finding an open network in Manhattan is about as easy as catching a cab during rush hour. Michael Lewis, chief of the budding nonprofit Wireless Harlem, plans to change that.

http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?articleId=38462CAE-E7F2-99DF-321E78970AEB35C0&chanId=sa013&modsrc=most_popular

Meraki Overview

Connect your community to the Internet

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Internet for all.

Meraki makes it easy for you to spread affordable broadband access throughout your community. Simply plug in a few Meraki repeaters to power, connect one or more of them to broadband connections, and the system will take care of providing access to everyone. You can start with a dozen people in your neighborhood and keep building until you've reached everyone in town.

Each inexpensive repeater is connected to a powerful back-end system hosted by Meraki, which helps you build and maintain your network. Use the web-based Dashboard control panel to keep an eye on your network, set bandwidth limits or block unwanted users. You can even create a branded, localized experience and charge for access.

Tens of thousands of users worldwide are connecting to the Internet with Meraki mesh networks. From university students in Slovakia, to children in villages in rural Ecuador, to low-income housing in the United States. And the best part, everyday people are making it happen without the help of IT experts. This is the opportunity to free the net wherever you are.

http://meraki.com/