Cicso Meraki releases wave 2 access points, among other new products

Cisco Meraki is kicking off 2016 with key releases from all four of its products families: wireless, switching, security appliances, and mobile device management. The most noteworthy addition, is an 802.11ac wave 2 access point, crashing the market at an aggressive $1099 price point.

Meraki's new MR42 802.11ac Wave 2 access point

The MR42 sports 3x3 radio chains with wave 2's signature multi-user MIMO. It also includes a 4th radio chain dedicated to blue tooth. With multi-user MIMO in full swing, the new access point is capable of an aggregate data rate of up to 1.9 Gbps - communicating simultaneously with MU-MIMO compliant client devices. While MU-MIMO devices still have yet to hit the market, wave 2 access points currently represent the cutting edge in high-density WiFi solutions for the looming future of bring-your-own-device dynamics. WiFi experts agree that the capacity limits of 802.11n, 802.11ac wave 1 access points, and their single-user MIMO capabilities will fall short of efficiently servicing the wireless connectivity needs of the device volume we'll see by 2020. Those who want to be prepared for that future now, would do well to consider adopting 802.11ac wave 2 access points.

In Meraki's switching department, new fiber switches with 16 and 32 SFP interfaces are now available in the MS 410 series. These models feature two SFP+ (1/10 GbE) uplinks (four of them in the 32 port model), and are virtually and physically stackable up to 8 units. The MS410-16 hardware is priced at $8,500, while the 32 port version (MS410-32) is $15,000.

MS 410-16, Meraki's new 16 port, fiber aggregation switch

When it comes to security appliances, Meraki announces the MX65 and MX65w. These new firewalls feature 2 dedicated internet ports for failover, eight 1 Gig ethernet ports, along with 2 PoE+ lan ports and support up to 50 concurrent client devices. The additional ethernet ports mean cost savings for smaller network deployments, as investing in an additional switch may not be necessary to enjoy Meraki's layer 7 management capabilities in switching. The MX65w packs the same punch, but with 802.11ac wireless capabilities also built in. Hardware MSRP is $945 for the MX65, and $1,245 for the MX65w. For small office deployments, the MX65w potentially represents an all-in-one solution for not only a stateful firewall and redundant internet uplinks, but also enterprise, gigabit switching, and 802.11ac wireless connectivity.

Meraki's new MX65w: an all-in-one firewall, switch, and 802.11ac access point

Finally, Meraki rounds out its surge of product updates in a number of improvements to their mobile device manager solution, Systems Manager / Sentry. Systems Manager now includes support for Android for Work applications, FileVault2 integration, as well as added Windows 10 network options. Additionally, new Windows 10 and OSX features make desktop management easier, and include a more powerful and user-friendly installer. Systems Manager is always free to try and use for up to 100 devices. For networks needing to register more than 100 devices, MSRP is $40 per device per year, $80 per device per 3-years and $120 per device per 5-years.

All of these new additions make Meraki's cloud-based solution and industry leading layer-7 management more attainable for smaller enterprise networks. All this and more are available on our website, www.copperwifi.com, with additional discounts available on Meraki orders over $5,000.