Mention the word “mesh” in tandem with the term “outdoor network” and chances are you’re bound to be met with a grimace or two from seasoned IT professionals who spent way too much time trying to optimize a traditional campus-wide mesh network. The technology, after all, is inherently flawed – each hop on a mesh network reduced output so significantly that the user experience was severely impacted (at which point the user would give up and go find a Starbucks for a decent wireless connection).

Fast-forward to 2011, and Aruba Networks has developed a mesh-style architecture that far outshines the technology of old and purports to provide a much more robust outdoor wireless experience. For Aruba, it’s all about the infrastructure, and its AirMesh outdoor wireless portfolio has the chops to carry high-bandwidth, high-throughput applications such as video with nominal signal degradation, according to the company.

“Generation one mesh networks were designed a for broadband-like experience,” said Greg Murphy, vice president and general manager of outdoor, mesh and industrial technology at Aruba. “It was never designed to handle video or other high-bandwidth applications. But once you can support video, you can support pretty much anything.”

The AirMesh portfolio consists of mesh routers featuring either quad-radio or dual-radio architecture to deliver up to 300 Mbps per radio, according to the company. Each radio can work either as a mesh backhaul link or as an access point, and each operates in a different frequency to prevent self-interference.

Plus, the routers operate in Layer 3 or the network layer, which “ if you’re deploying a very large network, you need to deploy in Layer 3,” Murphy said. Because of its strength, AirMesh is being positioned as perfect for IP video networks, giving Aruba partners another vertical opportunity and giving security-focused solution providers another arrow in their technology quiver.

“Especially for integrators, there is so much opportunity in this space,” Murphy said. “For years IT organizations focused on data networks inside their buildings. But there was another network in place that IT didn’t pay a lot of attention to, which was the video surveillance security network based on CCTV systems that often owned and managed by the physical security organization. But now, with the consumerization of IT, pretty much everybody has these beautiful displays on our mobile devices that are available to us all the time wherever we are. It’s powerful what you can do.

“We now have two massive markets coming together and merging into one market. It’s a huge opportunity for both the networking and physical security guys, and the winners will be those who understand the two networks are coming together and can take advantage of that.”

To help those partners in both markets, Aruba has also established a training and certification program for the AirMesh technology, which includes design principals and instructions on using the company’s new 3D Outdoor Coverage Planning Tool, as well as how to install the technology.

“In outdoor installations, mounting options are few and far between. It takes a lot of effort to do an intelligent RF plan, which can be complicated and labor-intensive when done manually,” Murphy said. “The planning tool is something integrators can use quickly to create a design based on the technology used and terrain including buildings, hills and other possible signal obstructors. The tool shows the coverage patterns in 3D to take into account the terrain, and enables the system integrator to get an intelligent plan and have an upfront conversation with customers regarding the necessary technology and a rough estimate of cost.”

Once partners go through the training and pass a test, they receive certification in the technology. “The certification is designed for an audience that has basic understanding of networking and wireless – it gives them the specific information they need to be successful in this environment,” he said.

Aruba AirMesh technology is available now, as is the training module.

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