Geekster

IT Roadmap Philadelphia

2009-07-08T16:19:00.000-07:00

Visit Xirrus in booth #319 at IT Roadmap Philadelphia! The convention will be held at the Pennsylvania Convention Center in Philadelphia on July 14th. Xirrus will be giving away all sorts of free swag including Xirrus t-shirts, informational Wi-Fi posters, and of course info on our products. Hope to see you there! =)

Stanbridge Earls Improves Network with Xirrus

2009-07-07T10:37:00.000-07:00

Stanbridge Earls School in the UK recently deployed Xirrus Wi-Fi Arrays across their campus to improve their wireless network for the students and faculty.

“It is increasingly important that we provide our students and faculty with the latest technology to assist learning and development in the classroom,” said Dean Williams, ICT Manager at Stanbridge Earls. “The installation of Xirrus Wi-Fi Arrays will allow our educators the mobility to take learning beyond the confines of the classroom and better cater to the special needs of our students. With the long range and considerable bandwidth that Xirrus provides, our students will now be able to take full advantage of our entire 52 acre campus, indoors and out.”

See the Xirrus Website for more info!

Xirrus deployed at Hundred of Hoo School

2009-07-06T14:08:00.000-07:00

Xirrus just announced the deployment of their 802.11n Arrays across the Hundred of Hoo School in the United Kingdom.

"Xirrus was able to replace our entire network with only 18 Arrays and allowed us to monitor and manage our wireless network remotely,” continued Sean. "The range, bandwidth, and reliability of our network are incredible! Teachers are thoroughly enjoying the ability to move from one classroom to another without losing their wireless connection. With 1,800 students and approximately 200 staff on campus, we needed a reliable network that would support our high user density and that could be easily managed. Xirrus was the only Wi-Fi company capable of doing all this and more."

Stay tuned for more to come from Xirrus! =)

Follow our updates on Twitter!

2009-06-29T16:38:00.000-07:00

Join us on Twitter if you would like to more easily follow updates about our company and learn cool facts about Wi-Fi! We are currently doing a "Did You Know?" series where we post Wi-Fi facts on Twitter. Come find out what the next one will be!

TIE 2009

2009-06-26T09:22:00.000-07:00

Xirrus just attended the Rocky Mountain TIE Conference in Colorado and was happy to provide the Wi-Fi for the show. According to our reps on site, the show was a huge success!

The Xirrus Booth at TIE

A rep from Xirrus spoke at the show

Some attendees using our network to get online

Xirrus employees manning the booth

Keep in Touch!

2009-06-25T13:21:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone!
Did you know that you can follow Xirrus updates and keep in touch with us through Facebook and Twitter? You can also watch our videos on youtube, see pictures of us on flickr, and find our company profile on linkedin!

And of course you can always just go to our website, www.xirrus.com, to learn more about us, see our products, take our tutorials, and request a FREE site survey!

=)

Hope to hear from you soon!

Wi-Fi Busters

2009-06-23T14:14:00.000-07:00

We busted the Wi-Fi at UCSB!

UK School Finds Xirrus Only Dependable 802.11n Option

2009-06-22T09:28:00.000-07:00

The Holy Trinity Church of England Secondary School Increases Network Reliability for Students by Upgrading to 802.11abg+n Xirrus Wi-Fi Arrays

Xirrus, Inc., the Wi-Fi "Power-Play" that delivers the most wireless coverage, bandwidth, and throughput in the industry announced today the deployment of their high performance 802.11abg+n Wi-Fi Arrays across the Holy Trinity School campus in Crawley, West Sussex, United Kingdom. The Holy Trinity School, a certified math and science specialist college, chose to replace their traditional access point network with Xirrus Wi-Fi Arrays in order to gain more bandwidth and reliability for their growing student population and eminent one-to-one initiative.

“From the time our school was established in 1969 by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, we have endeavored to provide each student with an exceptional education through implementation of advanced facilities and technologies,” said Justin Wheelhouse, Systems Manager at Holy Trinity. “We tasked Xirrus to cover our 25 acre campus with Wi-Fi connectivity to run hundreds of devices over the site as we implement our one-to-one initiative. Xirrus was able to cover all five buildings on campus with fewer devices and installation time while providing more coverage and bandwidth than any other offer we considered. While the solution was being deployed we saw instant benefits; before we had even completed the rollout we were already receiving comments from staff about the reach and reliability of the new network. One teacher gushed ‘The new wireless service is AMAZING!!!!!!’ while another said we ‘could not have made one teacher any happier.’”

Justin continued, “Xirrus provided us with a free site survey and a coverage guarantee which gave us the ability to know the total cost of our wireless deployment before making a decision. Combined with the reliability of the Arrays and after sales service, this allowed us to know exactly what we were getting for our money. In addition, the Array architecture and de-centralized connectivity creates a reliable wireless network that does not have to tunnel all the way back to the server room, effectively reducing network traffic and cable runs. Further exceeding our expectations, the Xirrus network offers the ability to upgrade or introduce new technologies such as VoWiFi at any time. This is an extremely important factor to consider in the continually changing educational field and we are very happy to know that we can rely on our new network through all of our future developments.”

“The administration and IT staff at Holy Trinity know how important it is to implement satisfactory Wi-Fi in their classrooms in order to properly integrate technology into the teaching process,” said Simon Hollister, Regional Manager at Xirrus. “By upgrading their network, they will be able to focus their time and energy on the educational environment without draining important resources on traditional worries such as the number of users that can be on the network at once or which areas on campus are covered.”

Xirrus Press Contact
John Merrill
E-mail: john.merrill@xirrus.com
Phone: +1.805.262.1644

About Xirrus
Xirrus, the only Wi-Fi “Power-Play”, manufacturers the Wi-Fi Array® architecture that displaces both overlay Wi-Fi offerings and switched Ethernet to the desktop. The Wi-Fi Array integrates 4, 8, 12, 16, or 24 802.11abg+n radios coupled to a high-gain directional antenna system into a single device along with an onboard multi-gigabit switch, Wi-Fi controller, firewall, dedicated Wi-Fi threat sensor, and an embedded spectrum analyzer. The Wi-Fi Array provides more than enough bandwidth, security, and control to replace switched Ethernet to the desktop as the primary network connection. The Xirrus Wi-Fi Array delivers the most coverage, bandwidth, throughput, and user density on a per device and per system basis than anything else available on the market today - resulting in a solution that uses 75% fewer devices, cabling, switch ports, power, space, and installation time compared with any other offering.

Xirrus is a privately-held company headquartered in Thousand Oaks, California. For more information, please visit www.xirrus.com.

Xirrus - Switching: Without Wires™

Xirrus - High Performance Wi-Fi™

Xirrus - The Air is the Network™

Xirrus - Wi-Fi Array®

Rapid Deployment Kit

2009-06-01T11:42:00.000-07:00

Xirrus announced the pre-sale of our new Rapid Deployment Kit at Interop

The kit can provide wireless internet for up to 100 users in under ten minutes!

Interop Las Vegas Proves HUGE Success for Xirrus!

2009-06-01T11:34:00.000-07:00

After three days of product demos and live boxing Xirrus walked away from Interop Las Vegas 2009 with more leads than any other company at the show.

Our ring girl, Georgina. AKA Miss Nevada

Check out this video of our female boxers at Interop!

Interop Las Vegas

2009-05-11T13:30:00.000-07:00

For all of you who are going to Interop next week, you're in for a treat!! Xirrus has been selected as the official wireless provider for Interop Las Vegas (May 17-21, 2009) and New York (November 16-20, 2009)!!

Xirrus will deliver the 802.11n network for Interop attendees and exhibitors throughout the Mandalay Bay Convention Center in Las Vegas and the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in New York. This is the fourth time Xirrus has been chosen as the InteropNet wireless provider due to the power and simplicity of our Wi-Fi Array platform.

Our booth at Interop Las Vegas will feature LIVE BOXING!
so come check it out and enjoy the great Wi-Fi provided by Xirrus. =)

Trade Shows

2009-05-06T12:28:00.000-07:00

Here are some pictures of recent trade shows that Xirrus has exhibited at.

Inside Interop Blog

2009-04-06T10:55:00.000-07:00

Check out the most recent post about Xirrus on the "Inside Interop Blog." In this post Robert Ballecer discusses the innovative 802.11n products produced by Xirrus.

Install pics

2009-03-30T10:38:00.001-07:00

Here are some of my favorite pictures of Xirrus Wi-Fi Array installations.
Enjoy! =)

Xirrus Outdoor installation in Mexico

Black outdoor enclosure in Westergasfabriek, Amsterdam

Interop Las Vegas

Array preconfiguration at the Westin resort in Aruba

Emergency Responders Rely on Xirrus for Wi-Fi Communications

2009-03-25T15:46:00.000-07:00

The County of San Bernardino Selects Xirrus® 802.11n Wi-Fi Arrays™ for Award Winning Disaster Response Mobile Connectivity Solution

Xirrus, Inc., the Wi-Fi "Power-Play" that delivers the most wireless coverage, bandwidth, and throughput in the industry announces the selection of their 802.11n Wi-Fi Arrays as part of the County of San Bernardino, Disaster Response Mobile Connectivity Solution. The County’s Information Services Department’s Core Solutions and Security Division (CSSD) chose the Xirrus Wi-Fi Array to quickly deliver and distribute voice, video, and data network access for County, Federal, and non-profit groups during disaster and recovery operations. The County recently won an award from the National Association of Counties for this Disaster Response Mobile Connectivity Solution.

“To increase our efficiency and effectiveness during emergencies, we require access to resources available on the County’s network and the Internet,” said Jake Cordova, Information Services Department, County of San Bernardino. “To provide immediate assistance to those who have been affected by a disaster, it is crucial to establish this capability quickly with the least amount of devices and power possible. Wi-Fi seemed like the perfect technology for our disaster solution, but deploying multiple APs at a command post was slow and created too many points of failure. We needed a reliable wireless appliance that could compliment our mobile and easy-to-deploy Disaster Recovery Solution consisting of 12 HP® 8510w laptops, a 20 unit Anthro® laptop cart, and a APC® 1500 UPS—that perfect Wi-Fi device was the Xirrus 8-radio Wi-Fi Array.”

“Adding the Xirrus 802.11n Array to our Disaster Recovery solution has allowed us to become more flexible and provide access to an even greater amount of clients—it covers a large area while providing stable and reliable network services to our clients,” added Jake.

“The Wildfires of 2007 was the first test of our Disaster Recovery Solution,” continued Jake. “The Xirrus Array provided the County’s departments, Federal, and non-profit agencies stationed at the Orange Show Fair Grounds with immediate network connectivity and communications from a network drop. Because the Xirrus Wi-Fi Arrays integrated multiple radios, we were able to customize the four radios for 5GHz and an additional four radios for 2.4GHz -- reducing the interference across the b/g for the numerous agencies utilizing 2.4GHz, while continuing to provide ample network and Internet connectivity across 802.11a was extremely beneficial and provided us an efficient means to assist the residents of our county."

“We are proud to be a part of emergency centers around the world—making it possible to quickly deploy reliable communications for the field—making their jobs a little easier,” said Charles Bettinelli, Regional Manager at Xirrus. “We are leaps ahead of the competition. Our Wi-Fi Arrays integrate up to 16 802.11abgn radios, a sectored directional antenna system, and the control into a single device, making it possible for organizations to blanket an area with high performance Wi-Fi connectivity for hundreds of users with a simple flip of a switch.”

Xirrus Press Contact
John Merrill
E-mail: john.merrill@xirrus.com
Phone: +1.805.262.1644

About Xirrus
Xirrus, the only Wi-Fi “Power-Play”, manufacturers the Wi-Fi Array® architecture that displaces both overlay Wi-Fi offerings and switched Ethernet to the desktop. The Wi-Fi Array integrates 4, 8, 12, 16, or 24 802.11abg+n radios coupled to a high-gain directional antenna system into a single device along with an onboard multi-gigabit switch, Wi-Fi controller, firewall, dedicated Wi-Fi threat sensor, and an embedded spectrum analyzer. The Wi-Fi Array provides more than enough bandwidth, security, and control to replace switched Ethernet to the desktop as the primary network connection. The Xirrus Wi-Fi Array delivers the most coverage, bandwidth, throughput, and user density on a per device and per system basis than anything else available on the market today - resulting in a solution that uses 75% fewer devices, cabling, switch ports, power, space, and installation time compared with any other offering.

Xirrus is a privately-held company headquartered in Thousand Oaks, California. For more information, please visit www.xirrus.com.

Xirrus - Switching: Without Wires™

Xirrus - High Performance Wi-Fi™

Xirrus - The Air is the Network™

Xirrus - Wi-Fi Array®

My First Trade Show!

2009-03-23T13:48:00.000-07:00

Network World IT Roadmap Dallas - my first trade show... how exciting! Flew into Texas for just one night to represent Xirrus at the show.

Here is a picture of me displaying a Xirrus Wi-Fi Array that we had cracked open for the attendees

Xirrus Adopts CWNA® Certification Program

2009-03-23T10:48:00.000-07:00

Xirrus recently adopted the CWNA® (Certified Wireless Network Administrator) training program, offered by Atlanta-based CWNP (Certified Wireless Network Professional) for certification of all its application engineers and principal technologists. CWNP, creator of vendor-neutral enterprise Wi-Fi certifications, offers four levels of certification for enterprise Wi-Fi. The CWNA curriculum covers topics from RF theory to 802.11n. The courses include hands-on training labs with the option of instructor-led, online or selfstudy.

About CWNP
CWNP is the de facto standard for enterprise Wi-Fi training and certification. CWNP is the only vendor neutral wireless LAN certification program in the industry, offering four levels of enterprise WLAN certification, from novice to expert. Our focus is to educate IT professionals in the technology behind all enterprise WLAN products, enabling the ability for these professionals to enter an enterprise and manage its wireless LAN infrastructure regardless of the vendor solution utilized. IT professionals in more than 120 countries have achieved CWNP certifications, specializing in how to make wireless LANs more cost-effective, reliable and secure. CWNP is a privately-held corporation based in Atlanta, GA. For more information about CWNP, visit www.cwnp.com.

Best of WiFiJedi.com

2009-03-18T11:35:00.000-07:00

Xirrus Principal Techologist, Douglas Haider, runs a very popular wireless networking and security blog at WiFiJedi.com

I have posted a list of the most popular posts on WiFiJedi.com for my Geekster readers. Check out the links below - I think that you will be pleasantly surprised.

Technical

How Stuff Works - 802.11n and MIMO

How Stuff Works - 802.11n and Spatial Multiplexing

How Stuff Works - 802.11n and Channel Bonding

How Stuff Works - 802.11n, Fame Aggregation, & Block Acknowledgement

How Stuff Works - 802.11n and Short Guard Interval

Opinion

Polls

For Project Managers

Free Site Survey

2009-03-09T14:37:00.001-07:00

Xirrus wants to give you a FREE site survey!

If you're looking for a wireless solution and would like to have Xirrus come out and survey your office/home/etc. for free then you're in luck. Visit the Xirrus website for more information on requesting a free site survey: http://www.xirrus.com/sitesurveys/

Us VS. Them

2009-03-09T10:48:00.000-07:00

Xirrus Events

2009-03-04T12:02:00.000-08:00

Here is a preview of whats to come... Xirrus events in the next three months:

TTVN 2009 03/03/2009 thru 03/06/2009
The TTVN annual conference brings together approximately 175 data networking, LAN, IT, videoconferencing managers, administrators, technical support staff, distance learning professionals, and multi-media users from Texas A&M University System institutions, agencies, and related organizations. The conference exhibitors and programs are focused upon the needs and interests of the TTVN user community.

Venue: Moody Gardens, Galveston, TX

UCET 2009 – Booth #411 03/06/2009 thru 03/07/2009
UCET is the Utah Coalition for Educational Technology. It has become the premiere technology forum for Utah educators and administrators.It is the mission of UCET to promote the cooperative development and effective use of information technology in Utah's educational institutions.

Venue: Taylorsville High School, Salt Lake City, UT

CoSN 2009 - Booth #305 03/10/2009 thru 03/12/2009
Each year the Consortium for School Networking (CoSN) holds the premier national technology leadership conference, dedicated to policy and effective implementation from school district, state, and national perspectives. The conference attracts over 1,000 district, state, and national education technology leaders.

Venue: Hilton, Downtown Austin, TX

IT Roadmap Denver - Booth # 210 03/10/2009 thru 03/10/2009
This unique, all-in-one, single-day event is designed by IT pros for IT pros who want to cover multiple industry topics in one day. Xirrus will be showcasing the High Performance Wi-Fi Array.

Venue: Colorado Convention Center

TechEd - Booth # 910 03/23/2009 thru 03/25/2009
The Community College Foundation, serving education & community for 25 years, has been developing innovative conferences and programs designed to bring best practice solutions to educators from across the country and around the world since 1996. Today, TechEd is the worldâ€™s leading hands-on Technology in Education conference and exposition.

Venue: Ontario Convention Center, Ontario, CA

IACC 28th Annual Conference 03/26/2009 thru 03/29/2009
The International Association of Conference Centers (IACC) is a not-for-profit, facilities-based organization whose mission is to assist members in providing the most productive meeting facilities around the world. The IACC conference is jam-packed with various programs--insightful speakers, rousing general sessions, special interest workshops, roundtable discussions and teambuilding events.

Venue: Château Élan Winery & Resort, Braselton, GA

INTEROP Las Vegas 2009 - Booth #1331 05/17/2009 thru 05/21/2009
Xirrus, the official Wi-Fi provider for Interop Las Vegas 2009 will be showcasing our High Performance Wi-Fi architecture – the patented Wi-Fi Array. With 802.11n and the advent of multi-radio architectures the capacity and performance for wireless networking has increased dramatically. Come by the Xirrus booth #1331 to understand the features and requirements needed for replacing wired work group switches with wireless connectivity for end users.

Venue: Mandalay Bay Convention Center, Las Vegas, NV

HITEC 2009 - Booth #950 06/22/2009 thru 06/25/2009
The Hospitality Industry Technology Exposition & Conference (HITEC) offers a unique combination of top-notch hospitality technology education, led by industry peers and experts, and an unparalleled trade show showcasing the latest products and services from over 300 companies.

Venue: Anaheim Convention Center, Anaheim, CA

Geneva Palexpo Increases Speed with Xirrus 802.11n

2009-03-04T11:42:00.001-08:00

Historic Conference Center for the 79th International Motor Show Deploys Xirrus 802.11n Wi-Fi Arrays, Delivering High-Speed Internet Connectivity to Hundreds of Guests

Xirrus, Inc., the Wi-Fi "Power-Play" that delivers the most wireless coverage, bandwidth, and throughput in the industry announces today the deployment of their 802.11abg+n Wi-Fi Arrays across the prestigious Geneva Palexpo located in Geneva, Switzerland. The Geneva Palexpo selected Xirrus for the Conference Center renovation project because Xirrus was able to cover the conference center with 75% fewer devices, cables, and ports than any other Wi-Fi vendor and because they were the only Wi-Fi vendor capable of delivering high-speed wireless internet connectivity to thousands of attendees utilizing all types of Wi-Fi-enabled devices.

“Originally built in 1926 to home the Geneva International Motor Show and rebuilt in 1981, Palexpo is one of the oldest and most historic conference centers in the world, so last year we invested about $7 million dollars to renovate the Palexpo’s architecture, furnishings, and technology,” said Yves Cretegny, IT & Financial Director of Palexpo SA. “Access point architectures from traditional Wi-Fi vendors have been troublesome—they require too many devices and cannot deliver the amount of bandwidth or user density for our large exhibitions. We brought in Xirrus and are highly impressed with the amount of area, bandwidth, and users supported by a single product—there is nothing else like it on the market today.”

“Anyone looking for a simpler, more intelligent way of deploying Wi-Fi must give Xirrus a call,” added Olivier Ramel, IT Manager at Palexpo SA. “Xirrus integrates multiple access points and a controller into a single wireless access device making it possible to deploy far fewer access points, cables, and switches, saving us money, time, and energy. We deployed the Xirrus 802.11n Arrays around our Conference Center facility and now have a world-class Wi-Fi network to support hundreds of concurrent guests utilizing voice, video, and data devices.”

“As a result of the recent upgrade, Geneva Palexpo is able to provide exhibitors and guests with high-speed wireless connectivity for all of their events,” said Vladimir Urayev, Regional Director at Xirrus. “Whether the prestigious International Motor Show, the ITU Telecom World, or the International Advanced Mobility Forum, Palexpo now has a Wi-Fi network they can rely on.”

About Geneva Palexpo
Established in 1926, Geneva Palexpo offers event organizers 7 halls with more than 1 million square feet of exhibit space. Palexpo hosts many prestigious events such as the International Motor Show, ITU Telecom World, and the International Advanced Mobility Forum. For more information, please visit www.geneva-palexo.ch.

Xirrus Press Contact
John Merrill
E-mail: john.merrill@xirrus.com
Phone: +1.805.262.1644

Xirrus is a privately-held company headquartered in Thousand Oaks, California. For more information, please visit www.xirrus.com.

Xirrus - Switching: Without Wires™

Xirrus - High Performance Wi-Fi™

Xirrus - The Air is the Network™

Xirrus - Wi-Fi Array®

Colorado State University Goes "N"

2009-03-04T11:40:00.000-08:00

CSU Solves User Density and Bandwidth Issues by Deploying Xirrus® 802.11n Wi-Fi Arrays™

Xirrus, Inc., the Wi-Fi "Power-Play" that delivers the most wireless coverage, bandwidth, and throughput in the industry announced today the deployment of their 802.11abg+n Wi-Fi Arrays at Colorado State University (CSU), located in Fort Collins, Colorado. Colorado State is a public institution of higher education and one of the nation’s top research universities, offering 150 programs of study in eight colleges. The Wi-Fi Arrays are being deployed at the newly constructed Computer Science Building, Morgan Library, Andrew G. Clark Building, Academic Learning Center and plans for the future Academic Instruction Building giving more than 25,000 students and 1,400 faculty members higher performance Wi-Fi.

“We have had a Wi-Fi network with hundreds of APs for some time, but some of these traditional APs were being saturated as more and more students brought in Wi-Fi-enabled laptops, PDAs, and phones,” said Greg Redder, interim Director of Networking at CSU. “Throwing more and more APs at the problem in some of these facilities was ineffective and costly, so we looked around for an alternative wireless solution—something that could support dozens to hundreds of concurrent users and supply enough bandwidth to meet current and future needs.”

“We invited Xirrus to demonstrate their claims of having ‘the most powerful Wi-Fi solution’ on the market”, added Redder. “To see what these Wi-Fi Arrays could do, we had Xirrus bring one Array on a portable tripod to support an Obama campaign rally on The Oval, a large open park where thousands participated. The Wi-Fi Array supported over 200 concurrent users without blinking an eye. This scenario fit well with some of our larger and more concentrated locations on campus. Thus, we are rolling Xirrus 802.11n Arrays across several high capacity buildings, including the newest building on our campus - the Computer Science Building, a 4-story, 45,000 square foot facility, comprised of classrooms, lecture halls, three student labs, faculty offices and large meeting areas.”

Curtis Reid, Regional Manager at Xirrus, said, “Our 802.11n Wi-Fi Arrays deliver more with less—more coverage, bandwidth, and user density with far less devices, cables, and switch ports. Organizations need to stop deploying yesterday’s inadequate AP’s and begin deploying Xirrus Wi-Fi Arrays—only Xirrus can replace switching to the desktop with wireless and give you the investment protection for years to come.”

Xirrus Press Contact
John Merrill
E-mail: john.merrill@xirrus.com
Phone: +1.805.262.1644

Xirrus is a privately-held company headquartered in Thousand Oaks, California. For more information, please visit www.xirrus.com.

Xirrus - Switching: Without Wires™

Xirrus - High Performance Wi-Fi™

Xirrus - The Air is the Network™

Xirrus - Wi-Fi Array®

Xirrus Wi-Fi Inspector

2009-02-25T10:25:00.000-08:00

Xirrus has launched the Wi-Fi Inspector, a standalone application for managing and troubleshooting a laptop’s Wi-Fi connection in addition to scanning and monitoring the Wi-Fi environment. The Xirrus Wi-Fi Inspector is ideal for:

• Searching for and locating Wi-Fi networks
• Managing laptop Wi-Fi connections
• Troubleshooting Wi-Fi connectivity issues
• Verifying Wi-Fi coverage
• Detecting and locating rogue access points

The Wi-Fi Inspector facilitates a 4-step process for analyzing a laptop’s Wi-Fi and network connection that can be easily executed by the end user:

1. Wireless Configuration – The Inspector displays whether the laptop is successfully connected wirelessly.

2. Network Configuration – The Inspector displays detailed IP addressing data indicating if the laptop is appropriately configured to communicate to the network and Internet.

3. Network Connectivity – The Inspector determines the state of the network connection by running a series of Ping tests to identify connectivity issues.

4. Network Performance – The Inspector determines the performance of the overall wireless and network connection by running a throughput test against an external Internet server.

Similar to the Xirrus Wi-Fi Monitor utilities, the Wi-Fi Inspector scans the surrounding environment for Wi-Fi networks (SSIDs) using the client’s Wi-Fi adapter. The Wi-Fi network information is displayed in real-time graphically on a radar-like display as well as in a table format. Detailed information about each network is provided, including signal level, security level, Wi-Fi channel, AP equipment vendor, etc. From this display, Wi-Fi networks can be selected to connect to or disconnect from, or selected for more detailed analysis via signal level graphing and location functions.

The Xirrus Wi-Fi Inspector runs on Windows Vista® and XP® and can be downloaded for free at www.xirrus.com/library/wifitools.php.

Wangaratta Deploys 802.11n to Enhance Student Connectivity

2009-02-25T10:24:00.000-08:00

Wangaratta High School Chooses Xirrus® 802.11n Wi-Fi Arrays™ for Its New Environmentally-Friendly Campus

Xirrus, Inc., the Wi-Fi "Power-Play" that delivers the most wireless coverage, bandwidth, and throughput in the industry announced today the deployment of their 802.11abg+n Wi-Fi Arrays across Wangaratta’s new high school, located in Wangaratta, Victoria Australia. Wangaratta High School chose to replace their existing Wi-Fi network for their new environmentally-friendly facilities because Xirrus required far fewer products, cables, switch ports, and energy while delivering 8X more Wi-Fi bandwidth to support a large assortment of wireless devices and applications.

Established in 1909, Wangaratta High School is on the forefront of high schools using technology to better meet the learning needs and interests of its students. To celebrate its 100th anniversary, Wangaratta High School is undergoing a major renovation, with an entirely new school being built to revolutionize the way education takes place—open spaces to foster student autonomy, wireless networking to increase learning collaboration, and environmentally-friendly facilities to be more resource and earth conscious.

“The state government decided to rebuild Wangaratta High School for the 1,300 plus students who attend, so we are working hard to complete the project for the schools 100th anniversary this year,” said John Patrick, IT Technician at Wangaratta High School. “We have designed the new facilities to allow for better student participation and information access by utilizing open classrooms and wireless networking. Thanks to the Xirrus Wi-Fi Array, we are able to deploy a Wi-Fi network to support our large student population with the fewest number devices and least amount of energy possible.”

“I’m extremely impressed with the design of these 802.11n Arrays—A single Wi-Fi Array easily supports 250 users running internet, email, and server-based applications on an assortment of Windows® laptops, Apple® MacBooks®, and PDA’s,” added John. “Because the Wi-Fi Arrays integrate the access points and controllers into a single modular device, there is no separate controller that needs to be installed, making adds, moves, and changes a breeze.”

“Schools like Wangaratta are tired of the expense, resource drain, and surprise added costs associated with traditional wireless access point vendors,” said James Shields, Regional Manager at Xirrus. “We do things differently at Xirrus—we work side-by-side with our customers to formulate a plan, we do not charge for our services, and we back everything up with a signal strength guarantee and 5-year warranty on our hardware—no one else does that!”

Xirrus Press Contact
John Merrill
E-mail: john.merrill@xirrus.com
Phone: +1.805.262.1644

Xirrus is a privately-held company headquartered in Thousand Oaks, California. For more information, please visit www.xirrus.com.

Xirrus - Switching: Without Wires™

Xirrus - High Performance Wi-Fi™

Xirrus - The Air is the Network™

Xirrus - Wi-Fi Array®

Poudre School District Selects Xirrus to Cover All 50 Schools

2009-02-23T10:08:00.000-08:00

School District Saves Money, Time, and Energy by Selecting Xirrus for Wi-Fi Network

Xirrus, Inc., the Wi-Fi "Power-Play" that delivers the most wireless coverage, bandwidth, and throughput in the industry announced today the deployment of their Wi-Fi Arrays across Poudre School District (PSD) in Fort Collins, Colorado servicing over 27,000 students, faculty, staff across 50 schools including 32 elementary schools, 10 junior high schools, and 6 high schools. The district-wide deployment is part of an overall learning initiative to use cost-effective, energy-saving technologies that will improve the collaboration and learning between students and teachers—to support and inspire every child to think, to learn, to care, and to graduate prepared to be successful in a changing world—with notebook computers and adaptive Braille Sense devices for the blind.

“There were many reasons we chose to deploy Xirrus, over all the other Wi-Fi vendors” said Victor Rosengren, Telecommunications Manager at PSD. “First, our biggest requirement in selecting our Wi-Fi network was density support—finding a Wi-Fi solution that would scale as we grow over time from mobile laptop labs to a laptop for every student. Second, budgets are always tight, so we needed a solution that would not cost an arm and a leg to install and manage. Xirrus offered us the perfect solution for our needs. By integrating multiple radios and the wireless switch into a single device, we were able to deploy these Wi-Fi Arrays quickly and more cost-effectively without the need of adding large numbers of cable runs and switch ports.”

“Third, we are well known for our energy efficient building projects and our sustainability management process, in fact, we have the first school in the nation to receive the LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) for schools Gold rating,” added Victor. By selecting Xirrus, which uses less switch ports, PoE boxes, and access points, we were able to extend our energy savings to our wireless network.”

“Xirrus is refreshingly different from most companies we’ve worked with,” added Victor. “These guys are dedicated to our success. They demonstrated why their solution is superior, conducted a real-world site survey, installed the network, and trained us on the system – all for no additional fee. And the clincher, they gave us a signal strength guarantee ensuring that we’d have the coverage we were promised.”

“Leading school districts like Poudre realize that Wi-Fi does not need to be complicated or expensive to be successful,” said Curtis Reid, Regional Manager at Xirrus. “Wireless networks should take fewer devices and cable runs than wired networks, not more. It’s been great working with Poudre to deploy this state-of-the-art Wi-Fi network that will enable them to better utilize their valuable resources as they continue to provide more educational services to their students and teachers. Find out for yourself why Xirrus is the most powerful Wi-Fi solution on the market today.”

Xirrus Press Contact
John Merrill
E-mail: john.merrill@xirrus.com
Phone: +1.805.262.1644

Xirrus is a privately-held company headquartered in Thousand Oaks, California. For more information, please visit www.xirrus.com.

Mardi Gras Theme on Website!

2009-02-20T14:41:00.000-08:00

Hey everyone! Time for my monthly reminder about the Xirrus website themes. Feb. 24th is Fat Tuesday and MARDI GRAS!! The Xirrus website is all decked out for the occasion so definitely take some time to go check it out. =)

Xirrus at Interop '09!!

2009-02-18T11:08:00.000-08:00

Xirrus has been selected as the official wireless provider for Interop Las Vegas (May 17-21, 2009) and New York (November 16-20, 2009)! This is a very big, exciting show and everyone should come out and enjoy!

Here is the press release:

Xirrus was Chosen Again as the Official Wireless Provider for Interop

Xirrus, Inc., the Wi-Fi "Power-Play" that delivers the most wireless coverage, bandwidth, and throughput in the industry announced today that they have been selected to be the official wireless provider for Interop Las Vegas (May 17-21, 2009) and New York (November 16-20, 2009). Xirrus will deliver the 802.11n network for Interop attendees and exhibitors throughout the Mandalay Bay Convention Center in Las Vegas and the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in New York. This is the fourth time Xirrus has been chosen as the InteropNet wireless provider due to the power and simplicity of our Wi-Fi Array platform.

“Over the past two decades, Interop has advanced the growth and evolution of the IT industry—this year is no different,” said Lenny Heymann, General Manager of Interop. “Thanks to Xirrus, we can continue to use the latest standards like 802.11n -based network—a network that will deliver vast amounts of bandwidth to thousands of concurrent users.”

The Xirrus Wi-Fi Array integrates 4, 8, 12, 16, or 24 802.11abg+n radios with an onboard Gigabit Switch, Wi-Fi Controller, Wi-Fi Firewall, dedicated Wi-Fi Threat Sensor, and Spectrum Analyzer into a single device. Xirrus' solution delivers 4X the performance and coverage along with 75% less devices, cabling, switch ports, and installation time compared to traditional access points because unlike access points the Xirrus Wi-Fi Array utilizes segmented directional antennas to better utilize and manage the RF energy of the device.

"Providing the 802.11n Wi-Fi network for this prestigious gathering of IT experts is an honor and demonstrates the strength of our Wi-Fi architecture in challenging environments such as Interop," said Dirk Gates, Founder and CEO of Xirrus. "Distributed Wi-Fi architectures, like the Xirrus Wi-Fi Array, are overtaking centralized architectures the same way Ethernet overtook ATM in the 1990's. The distributed intelligence and simplicity of our Wi-Fi Array allows us to quickly deploy a network with significantly fewer devices and provide exhibitors and attendees with the highest performance possible for voice, video, and data.”

Interop runs May 17 through 21, 2009 at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center in Las Vegas, Nevada. Xirrus will showcase its 802.11n products at booth #1331. More information is available at www.interop.com.

About Interop®
Interop® drives the adoption of technology, providing knowledge and insight to help IT and corporate decision-makers achieve business success. Part of TechWeb's family of global brands, Interop is the leading business technology event series. Through in-depth educational programs, workshops, real-world demonstrations and live technology implementations in its unique InteropNet and InteropLabs programs, Interop provides the forum for the most powerful innovations and solutions the industry has to offer. For more information about these events visit www.interop.com.

Xirrus Press Contact
John Merrill
E-mail: john.merrill@xirrus.com
Phone: +1.805.262.1644

Xirrus is a privately-held company headquartered in Thousand Oaks, California. For more information, please visit www.xirrus.com.

Xirrus - Switching: Without Wires™

Xirrus - High Performance Wi-Fi™

Xirrus - The Air is the Network™

Xirrus - Wi-Fi Array®

Ballinger Independent School District Empowers Students with High Performance Network

2009-02-18T11:07:00.000-08:00

Xirrus® Wi-Fi Arrays™ Chosen to Support 1-to-1 Computer Initiative District-wide

Xirrus, Inc., the Wi-Fi "Power-Play" that delivers the most wireless coverage, bandwidth, and throughput in the industry announced today the deployment of their 802.11abg Wi-Fi Arrays across Ballinger Independent School District (Ballinger ISD) in Ballinger, Texas. Ballinger’s newly launched 1-to-1 computer initiative “emPOWERs students for the Future” by arming all staff and 500+ students, grades 6th – 12th, with Apple® MacBook® computers to be used for classroom learning. Xirrus was selected as the Wi-Fi provider after the district performed an extensive product and cost analysis of competing solutions, which found Xirrus to not only offer the most powerful Wi-Fi solution on the market, but also the greatest cost and energy savings.

“Our school board decided they wanted each staff member in the district and all students in the junior high and high schools to be equipped with an Apple MacBook computer this year, so we quickly went to work to find the Wi-Fi network that would support all the students, deliver the necessary bandwidth, be easy to install and maintain, and not cost the district an arm and a leg,” said Tim Gau, Director of Technology of Ballinger ISD. “We had roughly six weeks to have the 600+ computers ready, which meant having the network in place and the teachers and students trained. By and large, the only way we were able to make the deadlines was by selecting to go with Xirrus—their Wi-Fi Arrays require far less devices, which is a big deal when you include the installation costs, the cables for each device that must be pulled and the switch ports that must be configured. The Xirrus Wi-Fi Arrays required far less than any other Wi-Fi system we looked at…and it was the cheapest when all things considered.”

“Selecting Xirrus was the right call—they came when called, performed a free real-world site survey, helped install and configure the network, and guaranteed we’d have the promised signal strength throughout the schools,” added Tim. “We were able to build, image, and bind the computers across the Xirrus Wi-Fi network far faster than we could have across the wired network. The Xirrus Wi-Fi Arrays made it possible to deploy our 1-to-1 computer initiative quickly and cost-effectively—they saved us from having to rebuild our wired infrastructure in the middle of the project. Our students and faculty have been using the new system since August now and we’re all very impressed with it’s performance and the increase in student/teacher collaboration—well worth the effort. You know you have a top-notch wireless infrastructure when teachers are able to run full motion video over wirelessly connected computers at the same time. The system is secure and has not gone down since we brought it online.”

“The Ballinger Independent School District is a great example using technology to increase instruction and learning,” said Robert Smith, Regional Manager at Xirrus. “Schools do not need to spend months pulling cable and long nights configuring switch ports. With a single cable drop, one of our Wi-Fi Arrays can cover multiple classrooms, support hundreds of concurrent users, and deliver the bandwidth for all types of applications. Like Ballinger, we empower customers for the future.”

Xirrus Press Contact
John Merrill
E-mail: john.merrill@xirrus.com
Phone: +1.805.262.1644

Xirrus is a privately-held company headquartered in Thousand Oaks, California. For more information, please visit www.xirrus.com.

Xirrus - Switching: Without Wires™

Xirrus - High Performance Wi-Fi™

Xirrus - The Air is the Network™

Xirrus - Wi-Fi Array®

Xirrus Releases New Wi-Fi Client Management Tool for Windows

2009-02-18T11:06:00.000-08:00

Free Xirrus® Wi-Fi Inspector™ Utility Provides Valuable Client Monitoring and Diagnostic Services

Xirrus, Inc., the Wi-Fi "Power-Play" that delivers the most wireless coverage, bandwidth, and throughput in the industry, announced today the release of the latest addition to its family of Wi-Fi utilities for Windows clients. Following on the success of the highly popular Wi-Fi Monitor gadget/widget tools – which together have achieved nearly two million downloads since 2007 – the Xirrus Wi-Fi Inspector is a standalone application for managing and troubleshooting a laptop’s Wi-Fi connection in addition to scanning and monitoring the Wi-Fi environment.

The Xirrus Wi-Fi Inspector is ideal for:

Searching for and locating Wi-Fi networks
Managing laptop Wi-Fi connections
Troubleshooting Wi-Fi connectivity issues
Verifying Wi-Fi coverage
Detecting and locating rogue APs

One of the primary applications for the Wi-Fi Inspector is analyzing wireless user problems. IT managers or help desk staffers can direct users to run the utility – readily available as a free download over the Internet – to assist troubleshooting Wi-Fi connectivity and performance issues. As is the case with many users of the Xirrus Wi-Fi Monitor gadgets/widgets, the Wi-Fi Inspector can be made part of the default image installed on corporate-managed laptops to be available when needed.

The Wi-Fi Inspector facilitates a 4-step process for analyzing a laptop’s Wi-Fi and network connection that can be easily executed by the end user:

1. Wireless Configuration – The Inspector displays whether the laptop is successfully connected wirelessly.

2. Network Configuration – The Inspector displays detailed IP addressing data indicating if the laptop is appropriately configured to communicate to the network and Internet.

3. Network Connectivity – The Inspector determines the state of the network connection by running a series of Ping tests to identify connectivity issues.

4. Network Performance – The Inspector determines the performance of the overall wireless and network connection by running a throughput test against an external Internet server.

Similar to the Xirrus Wi-Fi Monitor utilities, the Wi-Fi Inspector scans the surrounding environment for Wi-Fi networks (SSIDs) using the client’s Wi-Fi adapter. The Wi-Fi network information is displayed in real-time graphically on a radar-like display as well as in a table format. Detailed information about each network is provided, including signal level, security level, Wi-Fi channel, AP equipment vendor, etc. From this display, Wi-Fi networks can be selected to connect to or disconnect from, or selected for more detailed analysis via signal level graphing and location functions.

The Xirrus Wi-Fi Inspector – as well as all Wi-Fi Monitor gadget/widget tools – are available for download for free from the Xirrus website at www.xirrus.com/library/wifitools.php. The Wi-Fi Inspector runs on Windows Vista® and XP®. The Wi-Fi Monitor is available for Windows Vista, Windows XP, MacOS®, and Linux®.

Xirrus Press Contact
John Merrill
E-mail: john.merrill@xirrus.com
Phone: +1.805.262.1644

Xirrus is a privately-held company headquartered in Thousand Oaks, California. For more information, please visit www.xirrus.com.

Xirrus - Switching: Without Wires™

Xirrus - High Performance Wi-Fi™

Xirrus - The Air is the Network™

Xirrus - Wi-Fi Array®

Dätwyler Cables Use Xirrus

2009-02-11T10:31:00.000-08:00

Press Release from Dätwyler Cables:

High-Quality Wired Wireless Solutions

Using the WLAN technology Xirrus, Dätwyler Cables has added high-quality and yet cost-efficient and energy-saving WiFi arrays to its Unilan portfolio. The WiFi arrays optionally integrate 4, 8, 12 or 16 ”self-adjusting“ access points (according to IEEE 802.11abg+n), have high-amplifying directional sector antennas, a Gigabit Ethernet switch, the WiFi controller, a threat sensor and a Stateful Inspection Firewall all in one housing. The WiFi arrays provide ranges from 7000 to 11600 square meters, a high coverage (up to 1024 users per device), data throughputs of up to 864 Mbit/s and bandwidths of 2 gigabits each. With this high specification, they are particularly appropriate for professional use in the office environment, in conference centers and educational institutions, in production and logistics, hotels and hospitals as well as in airports. In order to guarantee a safe data transfer and energy supply of the device, Dätwyler Cables recommends the installation of a shielded twisted pair data cable with a high conductor cross section, for example the AWG 23 data cable Uninet 7150 4P, to feed it.

Dätwyler Cables offers a series of different housing and installation solutions to ensure full integration into the corresponding infrastructure and ensure the business-critical safety requirements are upheld.

The Xirrus Management System (XMS) allows the network managers to guarantee a central configuration, setup and management of safety features (IDS/IPS), a central performance monitoring of all WiFi channels and central reporting for several hundred WiFi arrays via the installed layer 3-network.

There are special PoGE injectors available for the power supply to the devices, via the structured Gigabit Ethernet cabling. The central remote power system allows easy and cost-efficient power supply. Optionally it is also possible to supply the WiFi arrays via the integrated power supply unit. The power consumption under full load amounts to 26 to 100 watts – depending on the device.

Dätwyler Cables and its certified installation partners offer a comprehensive support all around the Wired Wireless solutions, which starts at the system planning stage.. Customers only need to determine in which areas a WLAN supply – in addition to the cabling – is needed and make sure that there is a power supply available.

Check out their website at:
www.daetwyler-cables.com

Guest Post How Stuff Works – Short Guard Interval

2009-02-11T08:54:00.000-08:00

Hey everybody! I am providing a guest post by a co-worker of mine, Douglas Haider. Douglas is one of the Principal Technologists at Xirrus and blogs under the name "WiFi Jedi". I think I told ya about his blog before, but you can check it out at http://wifijedi.wordpress.com

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Violet - thanks for having me as a guest blogger! On my blog, I have a series of posts called "How Stuff Works". In the first several posts, I have been talking about technical improvements to 802.11n such as MIMO antennas, Spatial Multiplexing, and Channel Bonding. In this post, I want to talk about another such technical improvement, Short Guard Interval.

The guard interval is the space between symbols (characters) being transmitted. This is often confused with the space between packets, which is the interframe space (IFS). The guard interval is there to eliminate intersymbol interference, which is referred to as ISI. ISI happens when echos or reflections from one symbol interfere with another. Adding a time between symbol transmission allows these echos and reflections to settle in before the next symbol is transmitted. In normal 802.11 operation, the guard interval is 800 ns.

With 802.11n, short guard intervals are possible. The short guard interval time is 400ns, or half of what it used to be. Shorter wait time (guard interval) between symbols increases throughput. However, if it's too short, the amount of ISI will increase, and throughput will decrease. On the other hand, if the guard interval is too long, there is increased overhead due to the additional idle time. If you look at an 802.11 Modulation and Coding Scheme (MCS) chart, you will see that Short Guard Interval increases the data rate by roughly 10-11%.

Check out my blog at http://wifijedi.wordpress.org for other "How Stuff Works" postings as well as other information and opinions on wireless networking and security!

Internationally Recognized Montessori/IB School and teaching institute Adopt Xirrus 802.11n

2009-02-09T14:01:00.000-08:00

Toronto Montessori Schools (TMS) and Toronto Montessori Institute (TMI) Install Xirrus® 802.11abg+n Wi-Fi Arrays™ to Improve Student and Teacher Learning

Xirrus, Inc., the Wi-Fi "Power-Play" that delivers the most wireless coverage, bandwidth, and throughput in the industry announced today that the internationally recognized Toronto Montessori Schools (TMS) and Toronto Montessori Institute (TMI), Canada’s first and largest Montessori, has selected to install Xirrus 802.11abg+n Wi-Fi Arrays to deliver high speed internet access for student and teacher online learning.

Internationally recognized and established in 1961, Toronto Montessori Schools (TMS) , is a co-ed, independent university preparatory School. Along with educating over 750 students ranging in age from 18 months to 18 years, TMS also houses Toronto Montessori Institute (TMI), which is one of North America’s leading centres for the training of Montessori teachers and ongoing research into childhood development.

“It is critical that we utilize world-class technology to further the learning and development of our teachers and students,” said Ben Medina, Director of Information Technology for TMS and TMI. “We view Wi-Fi as a means of furthering the collaboration and learning process—by giving Internet access to online educational programs with mobile labs today and a full blown 1:1 student computer program down the road—allowing teachers and students to work and learn more efficiently. However, most of the Wi-Fi architectures I’ve investigated require large amounts of individual access points being tied to a remote controller. Sure, this allows for central management, but at the cost of wiring and security—there had to be a better solution.”

“I was overwhelmed with the Xirrus presentation and product solution—their method of integrating many access points and the controller into a single device, allows me to cut back on the wiring, saving the School and Institute both time and cost, and enhancing internet access security,” added Ben. “As we build out our 1:1 computer initiative, I feel confident we have the Wi-Fi product to make that transition successful.”

“Schools around the world are quickly realizing and adopting Wi-Fi as the primary network connection for users—Toronto Montessori Schools is a great example of that,” said Steve Armes, Regional Manager at Xirrus. “By adopting Xirrus’ 802.11n architecture, Toronto Montessori Schools has delivered a powerful, robust, and secure wireless network that will assist in furthering the education of its students and teachers for years to come.”

About Toronto Montessori Schools (TMS) and Toronto Montessori Institute (TMI)
Internationally recognized since 1961 and an International Baccalaureate World School (IB), Toronto Montessori Schools (TMS) is a co-ed, independent university preparatory School offering programs for students 18 months to 18 years. We enable each student to define and realize his/her success in university, professional career, and life through an academically rigorous program based on Montessori and IB principles for students 18 months to university entrance. Toronto Montessori Institute (TMI) is one of North America’s leading centres for the training of Montessori teachers and ongoing research into childhood development. For more information, please visit www.torontomontessori.ca and/or www.tmi.edu.

Xirrus Press Contact
John Merrill
E-mail: john.merrill@xirrus.com
Phone: +1.805.262.1644

Xirrus is a privately-held company headquartered in Thousand Oaks, California. For more information, please visit www.xirrus.com.

Xirrus - Switching: Without Wires™

Xirrus - High Performance Wi-Fi™

Xirrus - The Air is the Network™

Xirrus - Wi-Fi Array®

WiFi Jedi

2009-02-09T13:57:00.000-08:00

Hey everyone! Just a reminder to check out WiFi Jedi's blog for information on wireless networking and security. Whether you want to learn about spatial multiplexing, PCI compliance, or general 802.11n standards, this is the blog for you! I've learned a lot by following his blog and I know you can too. Enjoy! =)

Historic School Improves Connectivity for Students and Staff with 802.11n

2009-02-04T14:01:00.000-08:00

Marymount High School Choose Xirrus® 802.11abgn Wi-Fi Arrays™ for Campus-wide Deployment

Xirrus, Inc., the Wi-Fi "Power-Play" that delivers the most wireless coverage, bandwidth, and throughput in the industry announced today that historic Marymount High School, located in Los Angeles, California, has deployed Xirrus 802.11n Wi-Fi Arrays campus-wide as they begin to roll out their 1:1 computer initiative.

Established in 1923, Marymount High School is an independent Catholic college-preparatory school for girls in grades 9-12. It’s seven building campus, located on a 6.5 acre campus across the street from UCLA, draws students from all over the Los Angeles metropolitan area. Marymount is one of the first all-girls school in the United States to begin deploying a 1:1 computer initiative with Apple® MacBook® computers.

“We selected Xirrus for our Wi-Fi implementation because they have the best architecture available—their Wi-Fi Arrays deliver more coverage, more bandwidth, and more throughput with less devices, cables, and switch ports than anything else on the market today,” said Patrick Lynch, Director of Technology, at Marymount High School. “As we roll-out our 1:1 computer initiative, it is imperative that we begin with a powerful, robust wireless network that will give all our 400+ student body and staff the same user experience as traditional wired connections—Xirrus delivers that.”

“What’s more, the professional and knowledgeable service we received from Xirrus was extraordinary,” added Patrick. "Unlike other vendors who try to sell based on slide-ware and predictive modeling, Xirrus cracked open their products to demonstrate the ingenious design, performed a real-world site survey, helped us create a comprehensive network design, and backed everything up with a signal strength guarantee. I think the most extraordinary thing about Xirrus was their follow up and follow through. From technicians, to site visits, to the roll out of our wireless solution, Xirrus has been there every step of the way to make sure the job got done right—very impressive.”

"It’s great to see schools like Marymount using Wi-Fi as the primary network connection for their students and staff—to learn and work where and when it is most productive,” said Scott Tomlinson, Regional Director at Xirrus. “Marymount now has a powerful 802.11abgn network that is as powerful as a Ethernet workgroup switch, but much more flexible and capable of supporting an assortment of wireless educational tools and applications both now and in the future."

About Marymount High School
Established in 1923, Marymount High School is an independent Catholic college-preparatory school for girls in grades 9-12. Located West Los Angeles, directly across the street from UCLA, Marymount draws students from all over the Los Angeles metropolitan area. Built on 6.5 acres, the original Spanish mission style buildings were declared California cultural historical monuments in 1982. Throughout its 85-year history, Marymount has remained dedicated to the goal of providing an education that fosters the spiritual, intellectual, physical, emotional and social maturity of the whole person. For more information, please visit www.mhs-la.org.

Xirrus Press Contact
John Merrill
E-mail: john.merrill@xirrus.com
Phone: +1.805.262.1644

Xirrus is a privately-held company headquartered in Thousand Oaks, California. For more information, please visit www.xirrus.com.

Xirrus - Switching: Without Wires™

Xirrus - High Performance Wi-Fi™

Xirrus - The Air is the Network™

Xirrus - Wi-Fi Array®

Xirrus Announces PCI Compliance Enhancements to Wi-Fi Array Products

2009-02-04T13:59:00.000-08:00

THIS IS BIG NEWS PEOPLE!!!

First Wireless Product for PCI Compliance Certified by VeriSign

Xirrus, Inc., the Wi-Fi "Power-Play" that delivers the most wireless coverage, bandwidth, and throughput in the industry announces VeriSign assessment of the new features that enforce PCI-compliant configurations for the Xirrus Wi-Fi Array product line.

Payment Card Industry (PCI) security standards are worldwide technical and operational requirements that were created to help organizations that process card payments prevent fraud, hacking, and other various security vulnerabilities and threats. All members of the payment card industry, including financial institutions, credit card companies, merchants (retailers, hotels, etc.), and service companies must comply with these standards if they want to accept credit cards.

“To maintain a secure network and comply with the PCI standards, companies must ensure their Wi-Fi networks are secure and automatically protect both their company’s and their customer’s information,” said Kurt Sauter, Director of Corporate Initiatives. “The new Xirrus PCI audit mode, available in all Wi-Fi Arrays, ensures product configuration changes are compliant with PCI standards, disallows changes that would result in a non-PCI compliant configuration, and sends notifications that identify any product that does not meet the new requirements.”

New PCI-compliant implementations that use Wi-Fi are prohibited from using WEP starting March 31, 2009 and current wireless users are required to implement strong encryption such as 802.11i after June 30, 2010. The new features are available beginning in Xirrus ArrayOS software release 3.5 and include additional security features for ensuring the utmost in wireless security including:

Integrated and dedicated Wi-Fi Threat Sensor for continuous monitoring of the air

Integrated rules-based stateful firewall

Reprogrammable FPGA-based encryption engines

Integrated Spectrum Analyzer for DoS attacks and RF analysis

Advanced RADIUS/802.1x user and administrator authentication

Captive Web Portals for guest user authentication and control

Penetration-tested software and hardware platform

FIPS 140-2 Government security certification

“Xirrus is the first Wi-Fi vendor to take their products through VeriSign’s rigorous Security Certification Methodology,” said Katie Jenkins, Senior Consulting Manager responsible for VeriSign’s Security Certification Program. “Our program confirms that Xirrus has demonstrated that it has taken reasonable and appropriate steps to identify and manage information security risks and utilize PCI information security best practices for the evaluated Xirrus Wi-Fi Array products.

Xirrus Press Contact
John Merrill
E-mail: john.merrill@xirrus.com
Phone: +1.805.262.1644

Xirrus is a privately-held company headquartered in Thousand Oaks, California. For more information, please visit www.xirrus.com.

Xirrus - Switching: Without Wires™

Xirrus - High Performance Wi-Fi™

Xirrus - The Air is the Network™

Xirrus - Wi-Fi Array®

Xirrus Array Accessories

2009-02-02T15:25:00.000-08:00

Overview

Broad selection of enclosures to fit a variety of mounting needs
Specialized enclosures for outdoor and harsh manufacturing environments
Secure the Xirrus WLAN Array from theft or damage

Value Delivered

Allow Arrays to be easily mounted in almost any environment
Protect Arrays from harsh environments
Prevents damage from water and dust
Aesthetically pleasing

Xirrus has developed a family of enclosures in response to end user demand to that are capable of aiding in the protection of their mission-critical Xirrus Wi-Fi networks that deliver the capacity and performance needed for a successful user experience over a 5+ year operating life.

Indoor Enclosures Product Information

Model Number	Description
XE-2020	Indoor Enclosure Ceiling Mounted enclosure Replaces a single 2' x 2' drop ceiling tile Provides additional physical security Aesthetically pleasing mounting option
XE-2500/ XE-2520	Snap-on Cover Easily snaps on Arrays Provides aesthetically pleasing looks Does NOT provide security or mounting apparatus
XE-2220	Manufacturing Rated Enclosure Dual-filters create dust-free environment Easily mounted to i-Beam Free swinging design can handle being hit
XE-2100/ XE-2120	I-Beam Mounting Kit Allows Arrays to easily be mounted to exposed I-Beam Free swinging design allows array to swing if hit by forklift or other equipment Security chain add additional security Snap-on cover can ordered separately if Array needs to be covered

Outdoor Enclosures Product Information

Model Number	Description
XE-4000	Outdoor Enclosure Protects Array from harsh environments Protects from rain, heat, cold, sun and wind Provides an additional layer of physical security

Product Specifications

XE-2020 Indoor Enclosure
Material Types	Enclosure Housing: .060" Thick Sheet Aluminum Dome: Opaque Plastic, White Back Plate: Plastic
Dimensions	Enclosure: 23 3/4"W x 23 3/4"L x 1.1"D Dome: 3.1" High, 19"Diameter Back plate accommodates any Xirrus Wi-Fi Array
Weight	10.5 lb (Shipping Weight: 21 lb)
Cable Entry & Exit Specifications	(1) 3" wide x 3/4" high edge-protected cable access port Includes approved Fire-foamsealing Kit
Approvals	UL Listed
Installation	Requirements: Customer provides threaded rod & installation hardware

XE-4000 Outdoor Enclosure
Key Features	Weatherproofing and lighting protection Heater for cold weather locations Fan cooling with filters RP-TNC antenna connectors
Power Input	Auto-sensing 120 VAC, 47-63 Hz, single phase
AC Power Consumption	40W typical, 180W maximum (with Wi-Fi Array)
Dimensions	14 inches tall x 24 inches diameter (without accessories)
Weight	47 lbs (21.3 Kg) without Wi-Fi Array installed and 56 lbs (25.4 Kg) with Array
Operating Temperature	-40°C to +55°C with internal heater option, or 0°C to +55°C without heater options
Humidity	10% to 90% non-condensing
Wind Survivability	>165 mph

Catholic Education Office Sandhurst Increases Network Efficiency with Xirrus 802.11N

2009-02-02T11:49:00.000-08:00

Xirrus® 802.11n Wi-Fi Arrays™ Are Deployed at the Educational Offices of the Sandhurst Diocese to Improve Worker Accessibility and Productivity

Xirrus, Inc., the Wi-Fi "Power-Play" that delivers the most wireless coverage, bandwidth, and throughput in the industry announced today the deployment of their 802.11abg+n Wi-Fi Arrays at the Catholic Education Office Sandhurst (CEO), which oversees the schools of the Sandhurst Catholic Diocese, Australia.

The Catholic Education Office Sandhurst provides services and support to the school in the Sandhurst Diocese. The Sandhurst Diocese has 43 Primary Schools and 11 Secondary Schools ranging in size from 16 to 550 students each.

“We wanted a high performance Wi-Fi network that would allow our staff to move around the office, but still have network connectivity, said Tom Sexton, Consultant: Facilities and Resources at the CEO. “We looked at several Wi-Fi vendors, but found them to lack in their ability to penetrate our thick brick walls and deliver the necessary bandwidth for out application needs. Besides being impressed with the performance at DOXA School and Galen Catholic College, they came when we called, installed the product quickly, and guaranteed the signal strength based on their real-world site survey.”

“Any organization looking to unfetter users from the desk should check out the Xirrus Wi-Fi Array—their 802.11n Wi-Fi Arrays offer the same user experience as wired, but without all the headaches and expenses involved with wired networks,” added Tom. “We have a Wi-Fi network that can support all of network traffic—from notebooks to handhelds…from Internet access to streaming video—the 11n Arrays handle it all.”

“Organizations are tired of the expense and hassle of wired Ethernet to the desktop—making changes to the office configuration is never easy due to the switch ports and cables that must be moved,” said James Shields, Regional Manager at Xirrus. “It’s great to see the increase in worker productivity from installing our products—they’re free to work where it’s most productive without sacrificing performance—no other Wi-Fi solution is capable of doing that.”

About Catholic Education Office Sandhurst
The Catholic Education Office Sandhurst provides services and support to the school in the Sandhurst Diocese, Australia. The Sandhurst Diocese has 43 Primary Schools and 11 Secondary Schools. The schools range in size from 16 to 1500 students each and are as far flung as Kerang in the North (West) to Corryong in the far North East, down to Heathcote and Bendigo in the Centre of the State. For more information, please visit www3.ceo.sand.catholic.edu.au.

Xirrus Press Contact
John Merrill
E-mail: john.merrill@xirrus.com
Phone: +1.805.262.1644

Xirrus is a privately-held company headquartered in Thousand Oaks, California. For more information, please visit www.xirrus.com.

Xirrus - Switching: Without Wires™

Xirrus - High Performance Wi-Fi™

Xirrus - The Air is the Network™

Xirrus - Wi-Fi Array®

International School in Spain Delivers high-Speed Wi-Fi to Students

2009-02-02T11:48:00.000-08:00

The Schiller International University in Madrid Selects Xirrus® Wi-Fi Arrays™ to Increase Student Learning

Xirrus, Inc., the Wi-Fi "Power-Play" that delivers the most coverage, bandwidth, and throughput in the industry, announces the deployment of their 802.11abg Wi-Fi Arrays at Schiller International University (an American University) in Madrid, Spain (Madrid campus). The Madrid campus, one of the European campuses of Schiller, choose Xirrus because their Wi-Fi Arrays proved to be the only Wi-Fi solution capable of delivering the coverage, user density, and bandwidth needed for student e-learning applications.

“We have students from over 40 countries coming to study International Business, International Economics, International Relations and Diplomacy, General Studies, and more, said Vasil Hadzi Jordanov, Global IT Operation Director at Schiller International University, Madrid. “To better serve our students and professors, we sought to install a school-wide Wi-Fi network. We looked at several Wi-Fi vendors, searching for a solution that could provide a pervasive and reliable connection and was easy to install and manage."

“We were amazed by the professionalism of the Xirrus team and the capabilities of their Xirrus Wi-Fi Arrays,” added Vasil Hadzi. “Unlike other vendors who guess at the number of access points required, Xirrus came to our school, performed an actual site survey, and delivered a detailed plan. Our students now have full server and web access anywhere throughout our school, including the outside courtyards. The Xirrus Wi-Fi network provides a high-speed wireless network equal to our wired network—providing the bandwidth and throughout needed along with a simplified central management system—that traditional access points couldn't come close to achieving."

"By going with the Xirrus Wi-Fi Array solution, the Madrid campus was able to increase the learning of its students while saving time and money over cumbersome controller-based Wi-Fi designs," said Vladimir Urayev, Regional Director for Xirrus. "Not only did we deliver a high performance network with more bandwidth and throughput than any other architecture, but we did it with far few devices, cable drops, and switch ports than the competition.

About Schiller International University, Madrid
Schiller International University (an American University) in Madrid, Spain is comprised of students from more than 40 countries making the campus community diverse and cosmopolitan. The university offers undergraduate and graduate degree programs, with options including International Business, International Economics, International Relations and Diplomacy, General Studies and an MBA in International Business. The campus Madird offers a full range of facilities, including computer labs, study and lounge areas, a library, and a career counseling and placement office. For more information on Schiller International University in Madrid, please visit www.schiller.edu.

Xirrus Press Contact
John Merrill
E-mail: john.merrill@xirrus.com
Phone: +1.805.262.1644

Xirrus is a privately-held company headquartered in Thousand Oaks, California. For more information, please visit www.xirrus.com.

Xirrus - Switching: Without Wires™

Xirrus - High Performance Wi-Fi™

Xirrus - The Air is the Network™

Xirrus - Wi-Fi Array®

Xirrus Website Themes

2009-02-02T09:15:00.000-08:00

Check out the Ground Hog's Day theme on the Xirrus website today. Don't forget to check back often for new themes!

Russian University Increases E-Learning with Xirrus Wi-Fi

2009-01-29T11:11:00.000-08:00

Tambov State University Deploys Xirrus® Wi-Fi Arrays™ Across 10 Auditoriums and Dormitories

Xirrus, Inc., the Wi-Fi "Power-Play" that delivers the most coverage, bandwidth, and throughput in the industry, announces the deployment of their 802.11abg Wi-Fi Arrays at Tambov State University (TSU) located in the Central Chernozyom Region of Russia. TSU installed the Xirrus Wi-Fi Arrays to deliver high performance, high capacity wireless connectivity to their students and professors for accessing internal file servers for e-learning and Internet access.

TSU is the second largest university in the Central Chernozyom Region of Russia with over 10,000 undergraduate and postgraduate students spread across 30 research centers and laboratories.

“With thousands of users spread across our campus and many hundreds congregating in large auditoriums, we needed a better way at connecting students to our internal servers—traditional access points failed to deliver the needed bandwidth and throughput,” said Sergey Yuchachev, Head of Technology faculty at TSU. “Xirrus’ Wi-Fi Arrays are drastically different from traditional access points, which are chained to distant closet controllers. The Wi-Fi Arrays put the power and intelligence at the edge of the network where it belongs.”

“We now have high performance Wi-Fi connectivity across 10 auditoriums along with our 5- and 9-floor student dormitories,” added Dmitry Mesherakov, Head of IT Department at TSU. “Anyone needing to support more than a handful of users must evaluate the Wi-Fi Array by Xirrus as they are drastically superior than traditional access points—more bandwidth, more capacity, and more coverage with fewer devices, switch ports, and cables.”

“TSU, like many leading-universities, have realized that traditional Wi-Fi vendors did not plan for the success of Wi-Fi—traditional access points may be able to handle a handful of users, but they fall apart when dozens of users try to connect at the same time,” said Vladimir Urayev, Regional Director at Xirrus. “Delivering wired performance wirelessly is both possible and simple with our Wi-Fi Arrays. Try it for yourself.”

Xirrus Press Contact
John Merrill
E-mail: john.merrill@xirrus.com
Phone: +1.805.262.1644

Xirrus is a privately-held company headquartered in Thousand Oaks, California. For more information, please visit www.xirrus.com.

Xirrus - Switching: Without Wires™

Xirrus - High Performance Wi-Fi™

Xirrus - The Air is the Network™

Xirrus - Wi-Fi Array®

Australian School Increases Wi-Fi Speeds with 802.11n

2009-01-28T12:59:00.000-08:00

Galen Catholic College Increases Wi-Fi Performance with Xirrus® 802.11n Wi-Fi Arrays™

Xirrus, Inc., the Wi-Fi "Power-Play" that delivers the most wireless coverage, bandwidth, and throughput in the industry announced today the deployment of their 802.11abg+n Wi-Fi Arrays at Galen Catholic College located in Wangaratta, Victoria, Australia. Galen Catholic College selected 802.11n Xirrus Wi-Fi Arrays to support their high performance applications and high-density classrooms campus-wide.

Comprised of 17 buildings with over 63,000 square feet (19,428 square meters) of educational space, Galen Catholic College services nearly 900 students from Wangaratta and other local districts in Australia.

“At Galen College, we work hard to provide our students and teachers with the latest technology for enhanced collaboration, document-management, and Internet access,” said Dave Seiter, Principal at Galen Catholic College. “We chose to deploy Xirrus 802.11abg Wi-Fi Arrays last year because it was the only Wi-Fi solution capable of handling our 1:1 computer initiative and that would allow us to easily to upgrade 802.11n when we were ready—we made the right decision!”

“Recently, we upgraded our 802.11abg Wi-Fi Arrays to 802.11n—the process was quick and easy,” added Dave. “Xirrus made it possible to replace all our desktop computers—we now have hundreds of Wi-Fi-enabled HP® and Apple® computing devices wirelessly running applications like ClickView® and Microsoft® Sharepoint® across our campus. Everyone at Galen is extremely impressed with the pervasive coverage and wired-like speeds experience from the Xirrus products—equated to higher productivity and education time for all.”

“By going with Xirrus’ 802.11abg solution last year, Galen was able to effortlessly upgrade to 802.11n, further increasing the connection speeds for their students and teachers,” said James Shields, Regional Manager for Xirrus. “Student productivity drastically increased as a result of the Xirrus deployment, not to mention the hundreds of thousands saved by repurposing two computer rooms for general instructional use.”

About Galen Catholic College:
Galen Catholic College is a year 7 to 12 co-educational Catholic secondary college located three hours north of Melbourne, Australia with a history dating back to 1898 from the Brigidine & Marist religious orders. The school draws 886 students from Wangaratta and surrounding districts. For more information, please visit http://www.galen.vic.edu.au/.

Xirrus Press Contact:
John Merrill
E-mail: john.merrill@xirrus.com
Phone: +1.805.262.1644

About Xirrus:
Xirrus, the only Wi-Fi “Power-Play”, manufacturers the Wi-Fi Array® architecture that displaces both overlay Wi-Fi offerings and switched Ethernet to the desktop. The Wi-Fi Array integrates 4, 8, 12, 16, or 24 802.11abg+n radios coupled to a high-gain directional antenna system into a single device along with an onboard multi-gigabit switch, Wi-Fi controller, firewall, dedicated Wi-Fi threat sensor, and an embedded spectrum analyzer. The Wi-Fi Array provides more than enough bandwidth, security, and control to replace switched Ethernet to the desktop as the primary network connection. The Xirrus Wi-Fi Array delivers the most coverage, bandwidth, throughput, and user density on a per device and per system basis than anything else available on the market today - resulting in a solution that uses 75% fewer devices, cabling, switch ports, power, space, and installation time compared with any other offering.

Xirrus Wi-Fi Array Walk Through

2009-01-26T17:41:00.000-08:00

Xirrus Gets Festive!

2009-01-26T13:37:00.000-08:00

The Xirrus website is updated regularly with new layouts to celebrate holidays and other important events. Today's layout was made in celebration of the Chinese New Year. Check back often for new themes and celebrate with us!

www.xirrus.com

Xirrus Becomes KCSOS / PEPPM “Awarded Vendor”

2009-01-21T10:59:00.000-08:00

Xirrus’ Wi-Fi Arrays are Listed in the 2009 KCSOS / PEPPM Multi-State Purchasing Program
.

Xirrus was recently awarded for their Wi-Fi Array product line on both the Kern County Superintendent of Schools (KCSOS) in California and the Pennsylvania Education Purchasing Program (PEPPM) for the 2009 multi-state contract. This contract, widely recognized in Pennsylvania, California, and a growing number of other states, helps school districts, libraries, county governments, and local purchase technology solutions at competitive pricing through a widely respected bidding program.

“Agencies that place orders through KCSOS / PEPPM will purchase products at the lowest available price, eliminate the bid process, and expediting procurement through the streamlined and time-saving process compared to soliciting three bids for every purchase,” said Paul Kersse, Area Vice President for Xirrus. “They will benefit from the thorough investigation and selection process performed by KCSOS / PEPPM before designating “awarded vendors” for each product category.”

Prices and ordering instructions can be found at:
PEPPM
KernPC
Epylon
EdBuy

Xirrus is also a participant in the Universal Service Administrative Company’s E-Rate program, which provides discounts to schools and libraries for telecommunications services, Internet access, and internal connections. The Xirrus SPIN number for E-rate is 143030824. More information can be found at www.universalservice.org/sl/.

Obama Event Uses Xirrus Array

2009-01-21T09:30:00.000-08:00

Xirrus Wi-Fi Arrays were deployed at an econimic summit held by Obama at CMU. Also at the summit were Steve Case (co-founder of AOL), G. Richard Wagoner Jr. (Chairman/CEO of General Motors), and Lael Brainard (VP of Brookings Institution). Xirrus was chosen to support attendees and the press core covering the event.

Leading Music Publisher Advances Company Network with 802.11n

2009-01-19T09:09:00.000-08:00

Concord Music Group Upgrades to Xirrus® 802.11n Wi-Fi Arrays™ to Increase Performance and Convenience

Xirrus, Inc., the Wi-Fi "Power-Play" that delivers the most coverage, bandwidth, and throughput in the industry, announces the deployment of their 802.11abg+n Wi-Fi Arrays at the corporate offices of the Concord Music Group (CMG) located in Beverly Hills, California. CMG choose to install Xirrus 802.11n Wi-Fi Arrays because unlike other Wi-Fi vendors, the Xirrus Wi-Fi Array makes it possible for their staff and clients to access the network and Internet wirelessly with the same user experience as a wired connection.

CMG is one of the largest independent record and music publishing companies in the world and owner of a rich and, in many cases, historically significant catalog of recordings from Jazz to R&B to Classical.

“Our mission, at CMG, is to enrich lives by providing music of timeless appeal in innovative ways, which extends from the artists in our catalogs to our business processes,” said Edward Ginis, VP Information Services and Technology at CMG. “We wanted to install a wireless network to enable flexibility and enhance productivity of our staff and clients, but wanted it to provide the same user experience as our wired network without having to install numerous bug-like access points backhauled to a closet control. Wireless is great, but it shouldn’t require access points and cable drops every few feet.”

“We chose to deploy Xirrus because their 802.11n solution required far less devices, cable pulls, closet space, and power consumption while giving us far more bandwidth and throughout than other vendors,” added Ginis. “Xirrus came when called, installed the products quickly, and guaranteed the signal strength based on their real-world site survey. We now have a Wi-Fi network that can support hundreds of users streaming all types of media.”

"CMG selected Xirrus because our network resulted in a 4-to-1 reduction in access points, cable runs, and switch ports used throughout their company offices while delivering more than enough bandwidth and throughout for their staff and elite clients," said Scott Tomlinson, Regional Manager at Xirrus. "As an example, our 8-radio 802.11n Array delivers 2.4Gbps of Wi-Fi bandwidth compared to a other vendor 802.11n access points which deliver up to 600Mbps—we are far greater and more efficient.”

About Concord Music Group
The Concord Music Group is one of the largest independent record and music publishing companies in the world and owner of a rich and, in many cases, historically significant catalog of recordings. Concord Music Group’s legendary family of labels include Concord Records, Concord Jazz, Fantasy, Stax, Milestone, Riverside, Specialty, Telarc, Peak, Heads Up, Pablo, and Prestige, to name a few. They include titles from some of the most admired and enduring names in music, including Ray Brown, Rosemary Clooney, John Coltrane, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Miles Davis, Ella Fitzgerald, Isaac Hayes, Little Richard, Thelonious Monk, Oscar Peterson, Tito Puente, George Shearing and Mel Torme. The group's current roster of world-class artists includes: Karrin Allyson, George Benson, Chick Corea, Kurt Elling, John Fogerty, Ladysmith Black Mambazo, Sergio Mendes, Jane Monheit, Ozomatli, John Pizarrelli, Poncho Sanchez, Syro Gyra, Curtis Stigers, Angie Stone and Tierney Sutton. For more information on Concord Music Group, please visit www.concordmusicgroup.com.

WiFi Jedi

2009-01-14T12:17:00.000-08:00

Xirrus employee Douglas Haider has started a Wi-Fi related blog called "WiFi Jedi" that will bring you information on his specialty: wireless networking and security. I think you will find this blog extremely informative and interesting so go check it out and let me know what you think! Wi-Fi is his area of expertise so feel free to learn from him and ask him questions about his posts.

Xirrus Management System (XMS)

2009-01-12T11:53:00.000-08:00

Overview

Central management of the entire Wi-Fi Array network
Continual monitoring of Wi-Fi network status and performance
Control and maintain configurations across all Arrays

Value Delivered

Track and analyze Wi-Fi network usage and growth over time
Fast and simple roll out of Wi-Fi network configuration changes
Automatic alerting of network issues with drill down troubleshooting

The Xirrus Management System (XMS) provides a powerful platform for central management of a Xirrus Wi-Fi Array network. The XMS automatically discovers, configures, and monitors an Array network, and can scale from single site to large scale, multi-site deployments.

The XMS utilizes a client/server architecture. The central XMS server provides an aggregation point for configuration and monitoring of all managed Arrays. The client provides the application interface to the user and can be run across the network from any standard Java-enabled browser. The XMS is available as a server application for operation on a Windows 2003 or XP Pro system.

Key Features

Automatic network discovery of Xirrus Wi-Fi Arrays “out-of-the-box”
Policy-based configuration for easy set up of one or many Arrays
Consolidated Dashboard view of Array, Radio, Station, Security, Performance, and Alarm status
Hundreds of statistics on all aspects of Array and Station status and performance
Centralized view and classification of rogue APs and wireless devices
Aggregated view of alarms and syslogs for fault monitoring of the entire Array network
Overview and drill-down reports of throughput, stations, security, channel usage, etc
Push software upgrades to one or more Arrays simultaneously
Database-driven, high-performance engine scales for large deployments across multiple locations

(Typical Wi-Fi Array and XMS Deployment)

Network Discovery

Automatically discover Xirrus Arrays across multiple subnets - anywhere in your IP network
Discover newly installed Arrays “out-of-the-box” without any configuration using preset defaults

Configuration Management

Assign and configure newly discovered Arrays with default or pre-selected policies
Create policies pulled from one Array, then replicate across many
Save time by using configuration templates and applying them to individual or groups of Arrays as required
Execute software upgrades for individual or groups of Arrays at one time or on schedule

Real-time Monitoring

Dashboard view providing real-time summary of Throughput, Array, Radio (IAPs), Station, Security, and Alarm information with drill down filtering
Detailed views of Arrays, Radios, Stations, and SSIDs with hundreds of selectable and sortable status and statistics
View resources filtered by defined groups of Arrays
Aggregated view of Alarms, Events, and Syslogs presented in sortable and searchable views
Automated email notifications triggered by Alarm or Event thresholds

Mapping

Place and manage Arrays by physical location via defined maps
Import .jpg or .gif images of buildings, floor plans, etc
Create and manage by location via hierarchical map structure
Launch Array-specific commands directly from map

Reporting

Detailed, pre-defined reports provide assessment of Array network performance over time
Time-based filtering of report information by day, week, month, year or customized intervals
Location and Array group-based filtering of report information

Security Management

Centralized wireless intrusion detection system (IDS) for a Wi-Fi Array network
Continuously monitor for rogue access points and other unauthorized devices using built-in monitor radio on each Array
Classification and location of detected devices
Automated alerting upon discovery of new, potential rogue devices

XMS Specifications

General

Management Standards

SNMPv1, v2c
RFC 1155 SMI
RFC 1156 MIB
RFC 1157 SNMP
RFC 1213 MIB II
RFC 1350 TFTP
RFC 2030 SNTP
RFC 2616 HTTP
Xirrus MIB

Configuration

Configuration Policies	System Information Management Control Network Services VLAN DHCP Server Security SSIDs Integrated Access Points (IAPs) RF Wireless Distribution System (WDS) Filters Global
Policy Creation	Automatically create policies from existing Array Manual creation
Array Groups	Definition of Array groups
Policy Groups	Definition of policy groups Policies can be applied to single or groups of Arrays
Auditing	Audit record of Array configuration changes

Monitoring

Dashboard	Real-time summary display of Array, Radio, Station, Security, and Alarm parameters Real-time graph of throughput and station count View filtering by Array group
Alarms and Events	Aggregated view of Events and Alarms Sort/search for drill down analysis
Syslog	Internal syslog server Aggregation of all Array syslog messages

Discovery

Array Discovery

Network-wide Array discovery
Specify IP subnets, SNMP community string, polling interval

Security

Administrator Accounts

Definition of multiple accounts
Read-write or read-only accounts

Reporting

General Features	On-demand HTML reports Filtering by location or Array group Drill-down by date and time range Automatic filtering Charting and graphing
Pre-defined Reports	Array Throughput IAP (Radio) Throughput Station Throughput Station Media Type Stations by Array Stations over Time Session Duration Current Associations Channel Usage Array Errors Station Errors Array Availability Channel Usage SSID Security Level Rogue AP List

Software Management

Software Image Management

On-demand Array software updates
Updates applied to one or more Arrays
Scheduled updates

Backup and Restore

Backup and Restore

Save and restore all policy definitions
Save and restore application data

XMS Server Recommended Requirements

	Small Scale Install	Medium-Scale Install	Large-Scale Install
Max Arrays Managed	25	100	500
Max Stations Managed	500	1500	5000
Processor	Minimum: Pentium 4, 3GHz Recommended: Core2 Duo or Single Core Xeon, 3GHz or better	Dual-core Xeon, 3.2GHz or better	Dual-Quad Core Xeon, 3GHz or better
RAM	2GB	4GB	8GB
Hard Drive	250GB, RAID 0	500GB, RAID 0	1TB, RAID 5 Recommended
Operating System	Windows XP SP2 or Windows 2003 Server (preferred)	Windows 2003 Server	Windows 2003 Server
Other	Keyboard, mouse, monitor (1024x768 resolution or better)

XMS Client Requirements

Browser	Java-enabled, JRE version 6 or higher
Monitor	1280x1024 resolution or better

Warranty

Hardware

One Year Standard (extendable)

Product Ordering Information

XMS Management Software

XA-3300-CC-BASE	XMS (Xirrus Management System) and 20 Wi-Fi Array License to operate on customer-supplied server. Minimum server requirements: Intel Core2 Duo at 3+ GHz, 2GB RAM, and 250GB HDD for up to 25 Arrays and/or 500 stations. See recommended XMS XA server specifications for larger Array networks.
XA-3300-CC-50	XMS (Xirrus Management System) and 50 Wi-Fi Array License to operate on customer-supplied server. See recommended specifications for XMS XA server hardware based on size of Array network.
XA-3300-CC-SL	XMS (Xirrus Management System) and unlimited number of Wi-Fi Array Site License to operate on customer-supplied server. See recommended specifications for XMS XA server hardware based on size of Array network.

Useful Xirrus Materials

2009-01-07T10:20:00.000-08:00

The Xirrus website is a veritable arsenal of information, not only about their products and services, but also about Wi-Fi in general and other internet related technology.

I highly recommend visiting their Library to browse the wide selection of informational materials available to the public. Personally, I find the reference posters and tutorials very useful. Xirrus also provides podcasts and webinars for those of you who learn better when you can hear and interact with the information.

Have fun learning everyone!

inTechnology now distributing Xirrus Wi-Fi Arrays

2009-01-05T13:48:00.000-08:00

inTechnology has brought on US-based Wi-Fi vendor, Xirrus, to strengthen its play in the education sector.

Xirrus replaces Colubris Networks, in the inTechnology line up after the WLAN vendor was acquired by HP in 2008.

“We have watched them for the last 18 months or so in the US and opened a dialogue with them maybe six months ago and started talking to them about how we can start developing the market down here,” inTechnology group sales and marketing director, Mark Winter, said. “We were very fortunate with the digital education revolution coming to fruition that a lot of the institutions are going to be deploying wireless to manage the laptops they are going to be buying. So Xirrus became a natural fit for us to look at bringing this on-board and really taking this technology to the market through our partners.”

inTechnology will carry the full range of Xirrus Wi-Fi products, including Wi-Fi Arrays, Management System, Defense Module, and Power over Gigabit Ethernet, and accessories.

The distributor will also be offering the Xirrus Arrays with Ekahau’s wireless site survey software along with Wi-Fi site survey training and education in each state in Q1, 2009, for partners. Additionally, partners will be able to access a free site survey offering.

“Channel partners and schools can both leverage that,” Winter said. “Once a site survey is done it is an imminent deployment. That is one of the things we see as being a really big benefit to partners.”

Winter added inTechnology is looking to recruit five dedicated channel partners in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane respectively, along with two or three in other states to strengthen its focus on the education, local and state government, and healthcare spaces.

In July 2008, inTechnology announced a power management tool, BigFix Power Management, designed to help IT administrators monitor, manage and set standard desktop and notebook power settings.

Student Video

2008-12-17T16:16:00.000-08:00

This student at North Summit High School took the time between Leukemia treatments to make a video about the Xirrus Wi-Fi Arrays at his school. Check out the video and, on behalf of Brian, I'd like to encourage all of you to make a donation to the Make-A-Wish Foundation.

I always like to hear what people think the Xirrus Wi-Fi Array looks like. UFO and giant smoke alarm are ones that I hear a lot. Funny Stuff =)

Xirrus Products

2008-12-17T14:19:00.000-08:00

Overview

Up to 16 Integrated Access Points in a single device
Embedded Wi-Fi Controller/switch
Multi-sector Antenna System
Integrated Gigabit switch
Dedicated Wi-Fi threat sensor and spectrum analyzer
Wi-Fi stateful Firewall

Value Delivered

Wi-Fi Bandwidth up to 4.8Gbps
Coverage up to 125,000sqft
75% fewer devices to deploy and manage
Integrated intrusion detection and prevention

The Xirrus Wi-Fi Array is the only Wi-Fi device that can effectively replace a traditional Ethernet workgroup switch and provide users a wired experience over Wi-Fi. The Xirrus family of Wi-Fi Arrays provides an unparalleled level of capacity, range, coverage, and performance to deliver Wi-Fi service that can replace the functionality of a traditional Ethernet switch. Now the ability to securely deliver data, voice, and video services to large user populations is realizable - and all at reduced deployment and ownership costs compared to traditional wired networks.

Key Features

More Coverage per device - delivers 4x more coverage than traditional APs
More users per device - supports 100’s of users per device
High Performance Wi-Fi - up to 8X the bandwidth and 14X the throughput of traditional APs
Best RF management - multiple tunable radios, automatic channel, cell, interference, and load optimization of the RF environment
Highly Secure Wi-Fi - integrated Wi-Fi Firewall, integrated spectrum analyzer, and dedicated Wi-Fi Threat Sensor, and rogue AP blocking
Highly Resilient Wi-Fi - resiliency at the radio, Array, uplink, backhaul and power level
Line Rate Encryption - line rate encryption within the Array - no bottlenecks
Future Proof - modular design and flash upgradeable allows for quick field upgrades
Reduced Cost - 75% less devices, cabling, switch ports, and installation time
Layer 3 Roaming - security policies can be created for different types of users to control parameters such as time-of-day and day-of-the week access, QoS, and traffic limits
Location Services - clients location can be mapped to building floorplans based on location of the client relative to the Array.

Array Architecture

The Xirrus Wi-Fi Array represents the next generation in Wi-Fi architectures - integrating up to 16 Wi-Fi radios with an onboard Wi-Fi controller, Gigabit Switch, Firewall, Spectrum Analyzer, and a dedicated Wi-Fi Threat Sensor into a single device.

Multiple radios are co-located in a circular configuration to create a radio "Array" that provides significant range, capacity, and RF management advantages. Each Integrated Access Point (IAP) uses a high gain, directional Antenna System to deliver increased transmit gain and receive sensitivity in all directions, resulting in up to 4x the coverage area of traditional AP / Wi-Fi controller architectures.

By implementing the intelligence at the edge of the network, rather than in a centralized controller, the Xirrus Array improves network efficiency, lowers latency, improves network throughput, and simplifies network deployment.

The Xirrus 802.11n Array uses 3x3 MIMO technology to support data rates up to 300 Mbps per radio. The Array has three built in antennas per IAP integrating up to 60 antennas into a single device. The Arrays unique architecture provides an easy to install, aesthetically pleasing solution with no need for external cables or antennas.

The Xirrus Wi-Fi Array delivers the most coverage, bandwidth, throughput, and support for more users on a per device and per system basis that anything else available on the market today - resulting in a solution that uses 75% fewer devices, cabling, switch ports, power, space, and installation time compared with any other offering.

Longer Range - Extended Coverage Area

Multi-radio, multi-sector antenna system creates a customizable 360º coverage pattern
Directional antennas provide increased transmit gain and greater receive sensitivity to increase range
Provides 2X the range and 4X the coverage area, enabling greater data rates at a given range

Superior Wi-Fi Performance

Delivers up to 4.8Gbps of RF bandwidth to provide up to 8x the capacity of devices used in current Wi-Fi deployments
Embedded Array Controller features multi-gigabit switching fabric and provides unprecedented coordination of the RF spectrum, security and Quality of Service (QoS) functions across the Integrated Access Points

Structured Wi-Fi Management

Dynamic channel assignment and monitoring of interference optimizes spectrum usage
Each RF sector size can be independently controlled, creating an adaptive pattern of desired coverage or to limit RF "bleed" outside of a given area
Load balances clients across the Integrated Access Points based on changing load conditions

Enterprise-Grade Security

Supports the latest wireless encryption and authentication standards including IEEE 802.1x, WPA (Wi-Fi Protected Access) and IEEE 802.11i AES (Advanced Encryption Standard) for data protection
Monitors the RF environment for rogue access points and other security threats by dedicating one 802.11a/b/g IAP as a full-time Wi-Fi Threat Sensor
Array maintains intrusion detection table for all detected APs, adhocs, and stations
Unauthorized AP can be blocked preventing network users from associating to rogue APs
Integrated Spectrum Analyzer helps identify interface and provide insight into network behavior
Integrates with Xirrus Defense Module application to provide a proactive Intrusion Detection / Intrusion Prevention System (IDS/IPS)
Interfaces with external RADIUS servers to ensure proper authentication and accounting of users - also includes an embedded RADIUS server to support smaller deployments
Physical security of the Array is provided through a Kensington locking mechanism
Authentication for newly deployed Arrays can be automated using the optional Xirrus Management System
Each Array ships in a secure mode with the RF interfaces disabled ensuring the system is completely secure from installation through start up
Dynamic VLANS enable the Array to dynamically assign wireless stations to VLANs specified by RADIUS policy settings
Stateful firewall protects wireless network from unauthorized traffic

Deployment Efficiency

Simplifies Wi-Fi deployments by reducing the number of devices to install, manage, and support an average of 75%
Modular design allows for the replacement of Integrated Access Points for future upgrades as new 802.11 standards become available
Xirrus Management System provides efficient central management for large Array deployments, automatically discovering, authenticating and configuring new Arrays as they join the network
Straightforward installation using the included ceiling mounting kit with template or using optional indoor and outdoor enclosures

Reliability

Multiple points of redundancy, including at the radio, uplink port, and Array levels
Adjacent RF sectors overlap to provide continual service in the unlikely event of an Integrated Access Point failure
Radio Assurance executes self-diagnosis to detect and correct many issues before they are detected by network users
Integrated self-test helps validate integrity of Array and isolates issues to simplify troubleshooting
Full Array failover available by configuring a secondary Array to be used in a "hot standby" mode

Palace Hotel Depolys Xirrus Arrays

2008-12-17T10:20:00.000-08:00

The legendary Palace Hotel in San Francisco chose Xirrus to deploy their Wi-Fi. The Xirrus Wi-Fi Arrays were used because they are capable of covering the large areas, support the extensive client population, and accommodate the high bandwidth applications used by the hotel’s elite clientele. Built in 1875, the Palace Hotel is one of San Francisco's most treasured landmarks. The Palace Hotel is part of the Luxury Collection of hotels & resorts offering guests 552 rooms and suites with soaring 14-foot ceilings, original architectural details, opulent bedding, marble bathrooms and a host of thoughtful and luxurious modern amenities. The hotel's elaborate 53,000 square feet of meeting space are divided into 23 rooms including 3 elegant ballrooms, 4 high-caliber boardrooms and the unrivaled Garden Court.

Xirrus Facebook

2008-12-15T11:21:00.000-08:00

Xirrus is on Facebook!

If you want to learn more about Xirrus, discover what our products can do, or discuss Xirrus related topics with other fans, Facebook is the place for you!

Become a fan of the Xirrus Wi-Fi Array on the Product Page

Join the Xirrus Facebook Group

And, for all Xirrus employees, we now have a Xirrus network on Facebook!

Enjoy =)

Minervagymnasium Uses Xirrus 802.11n

2008-12-15T10:06:00.000-08:00

A leading Swedish school, Minervagymnasium, recently increased their bandwidth 14x by using Xirrus 802.11n radios. “In upgrading our Wi-Fi network to 802.11n, we wanted a Wi-Fi architecture that would provide us the most Wi-Fi bandwidth with the fewest amount of devices – that choice was Xirrus." - Mikael Westergård, Director of Information Technology at Minervagymnasium

Xirrus, Inc., the Wi-Fi "Power-Play" that delivers the most coverage, bandwidth, and throughput in the industry, announces the deployment of 802.11abg+n Wi-Fi Arrays at Minervagymnasium, a 10-12 grade high school located on the campus of Umea University in Umea, Sweden. Minervagymnasium upgraded from Apple® Airport Extremes® to Xirrus 802.11n Wi-Fi Arrays to deliver 14X more Wi-Fi bandwidth and throughput for students and faculty throughout their state-of-the-art facility.

Mikael Westergård, Director of Information Technology at Minervagymnasium was very happy with the upgrade. “The Xirrus 802.11abg+n Wi-Fi Arrays easily handle the 475 plus Apple Macbooks and iPhones roaming through our 4,100 square meters of classroom and office space,” said Mikael. “Within a few minutes of installing the Xirrus products, we had over 150 users associated to a single Array – try to do that with traditional access point. We went from having a few hundred Megabits of Wi-Fi bandwidth to nearly 10 Gigabits with the Xirrus Arrays – ample bandwidth for our school."

As you can see in the photo to the right, the Xirrus Wi-Fi Arrays were installed within the ceiling panels for convenience and aesthetics.

Just another reason why Xirrus is the best Wi-Fi solution on the market today!

An Introduction to Xirrus

2008-12-03T22:50:00.001-08:00

Xirrus is a local Wi-Fi company based out of Thousand Oaks, CA that I think everyone should know about. That's why I'm creating this blog dedicated almost entirely to Xirrus. This company is the leader in wireless technology, the master of switching without wires, the expert on high performance Wi-Fi... they deliver the most Wi-Fi coverage, bandwidth, throughput, and support for more users on a per device or system basis in the industry. How? By providing an amazingly innovative product: the Xirrus Wi-Fi Array.

The Xirrus Wi-Fi Array architecture displaces both overlay Wi-Fi offerings and switched Ethernet to the desktop. The Wi-Fi Array integrates 4, 8, 12, 16, or 24 802.11abg+n radios coupled to a high-gain directional antenna system into a single device along with an onboard multi-gigabit switch, Wi-Fi controller, firewall, dedicated Wi-Fi threat sensor, and an embedded spectrum analyzer. The Wi-Fi Array provides more than enough bandwidth, security, and control to replace switched Ethernet to the desktop as the primary network connection. The Xirrus Wi-Fi Array delivers the most coverage, bandwidth, throughput, and support for more users on a per device and per system basis that anything else available on the market today - resulting in a solution that uses 75% fewer devices, cabling, switch ports, power, space, and installation time compared with any other offering.

If that's not impressive, I don't know what is!
You can check them out at www.xirrus.com to learn more.

This blog will be dedicated to keeping you up to date on Xirrus and possibly other related companies or topics.

Enjoy! =)

Geekster

IT Roadmap Philadelphia

Stanbridge Earls Improves Network with Xirrus

Xirrus deployed at Hundred of Hoo School

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TIE 2009

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Wi-Fi Busters

UK School Finds Xirrus Only Dependable 802.11n Option

Rapid Deployment Kit

Interop Las Vegas Proves HUGE Success for Xirrus!

Interop Las Vegas

Trade Shows

Inside Interop Blog

Install pics

Emergency Responders Rely on Xirrus for Wi-Fi Communications

My First Trade Show!

Xirrus Adopts CWNA® Certification Program

Best of WiFiJedi.com

Free Site Survey

Us VS. Them

Xirrus Events

Geneva Palexpo Increases Speed with Xirrus 802.11n

Colorado State University Goes "N"

Xirrus Wi-Fi Inspector

Wangaratta Deploys 802.11n to Enhance Student Connectivity

Poudre School District Selects Xirrus to Cover All 50 Schools

Mardi Gras Theme on Website!

Xirrus at Interop '09!!

Ballinger Independent School District Empowers Students with High Performance Network

Xirrus Releases New Wi-Fi Client Management Tool for Windows

Dätwyler Cables Use Xirrus

*Guest Post* How Stuff Works – Short Guard Interval

Internationally Recognized Montessori/IB School and teaching institute Adopt Xirrus 802.11n

WiFi Jedi

Historic School Improves Connectivity for Students and Staff with 802.11n

Xirrus Announces PCI Compliance Enhancements to Wi-Fi Array Products

Xirrus Array Accessories

Overview

Value Delivered

Indoor Enclosures Product Information

Outdoor Enclosures Product Information

Product Specifications

Catholic Education Office Sandhurst Increases Network Efficiency with Xirrus 802.11N

International School in Spain Delivers high-Speed Wi-Fi to Students

Xirrus Website Themes

Russian University Increases E-Learning with Xirrus Wi-Fi

Australian School Increases Wi-Fi Speeds with 802.11n

Xirrus Wi-Fi Array Walk Through

Xirrus Gets Festive!

Xirrus Becomes KCSOS / PEPPM “Awarded Vendor”

Obama Event Uses Xirrus Array

Leading Music Publisher Advances Company Network with 802.11n

WiFi Jedi

Xirrus Management System (XMS)

Value Delivered

Key Features

Network Discovery

Configuration Management

Real-time Monitoring

Mapping

Reporting

Security Management

XMS Specifications

General

Configuration

Monitoring

Discovery

Security

Reporting

Software Management

Backup and Restore

XMS Server Recommended Requirements

XMS Client Requirements

Warranty

Product Ordering Information

XMS Management Software

Useful Xirrus Materials

inTechnology now distributing Xirrus Wi-Fi Arrays

Student Video

Guest Post How Stuff Works – Short Guard Interval