Dayton, Ohio, Tests Cisco’s New Mesh System

HarborLink, in a public-private partnership with the city of Dayton, deployed a one-square mile Wi-Fi access zone giving citizens free Internet access.

In recent weeks, Cisco Systems has unveiled what it described as the first "intelligent wireless mesh solution" that will make it easier for municipalities to provide high-speed wireless network and Internet connectivity services.

The solution uses the new Cisco Aironet 1500 Series access points (APs) specifically built for large-scale deployments. These utilize two radios for maximum data integrity and throughput. This means that unlike many other Wi-Fi access point systems, the Aironet Series 1500 operates effectively without a direct connection to a wired network at every access point.

Requiring a direct connection to a wired network has been one limiting factor for wide area Wi-Fi deployments. But wireless mesh networks need far fewer access points with wired connections. Mesh access points can use their wireless capabilities to transmit backhaul traffic from one access point to another and out to the Internet over the most efficient path.

By Blake Harris

Full Story: http://www.govtech.net/digitalcommunities/story.php?id=97565