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The Duston School Supports BYOD and 1:1 iPad(R) Programme With Meru(R) Education-Grade (MEG) Wireless Solution
[January 22, 2014]

The Duston School Supports BYOD and 1:1 iPad(R) Programme With Meru(R) Education-Grade (MEG) Wireless Solution


(Marketwire Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM -- (Marketwired) -- 01/22/14 -- BETT SHOW 2014 -- Meru Networks® (NASDAQ: MERU) today announced that The Duston School has deployed a Meru Education-grade (MEG™) wireless solution to support its bring-your-own-device (BYOD) programme for sixth form students and its planned 1:1 Apple® iPad® implementation for all 1,400 pupils and 90 teaching staff. The Northamptonshire-based academy, which has transformed itself from a 'Special Measures' rating in 2005 to 'Outstanding' in the latest Ofsted report, has completed phase one of its iPad project in which it purchased 150 iPads for whole class use. The school is currently planning phase two, which will introduce a 1:1 iPad programme for all students.



"With so many mobile devices being deployed, and sixth formers already bringing in their own laptops and tablets, we needed a Wi-Fi set-up that could deliver scalable networking and fast performance," said Lucy Walshaw, ICT systems and delivery leader at The Duston School. "The feedback has been the most satisfying part about installing the new network. Before, we had regular, heartfelt complaints about sluggish performance or being unable to connect, as staff had lost confidence in the Wi-Fi. Now we have nothing but praise!" The Meru solution replaces the school's previous wireless network, which prompted regular complaints from staff about dropped connections and poor performance. In addition to density issues, the school's passive infrared (PIR) motion sensors also caused channel interference with the Wi-Fi, making Meru's single channel architecture the ideal solution. The new wireless network will eventually support approximately 2,000 iPads for both staff and students in addition to the 500 pre-existing devices. The planned 1:1 learning programme, which could see 1,400 iPads go live simultaneously, is planned for the new academic year.

The Duston School network includes 48 Meru AP332 dual-radio, dual-band 802.11n WLAN access points, fitted throughout the school. The 'Hub,' an expansive, high-advanced library, is one area within which the school expects large numbers of users to be accessing the wireless network. This was recently put to the test when they conducted staff iPad training with 90 iPads in use simultaneously -- without connectivity issues.


The school's solution is designed to support a variety of wireless technologies including Apple TV® and iPads as well as the sixth form students' personal devices through BYOD. For management and security purposes the school decided to separate their network using a variety of VLANs; this was part of the wireless network deployment which was designed and implemented by Meru Gold Partner, Switchshop.

Meru's Education-grade (MEG) wireless solution is designed to solve educational institutions' BYOD (Bring your own device) issues and support their learning-essential applications. MEG starts with three simple steps: 1. On-board quickly with BYOD provisioning and secure wireless access mapped to IT policies.

2. Connect all BYOD devices reliably anywhere on campus.

3. Learn by deploying validated learning and teaching applications on BYOD devices over the MEG wireless solution.

"The Duston School is making fast advances into 21st Century learning with their mobile device initiatives, enabled by Meru," said Mark Howell, area director for UK and Ireland at Meru Networks. "We are extremely pleased to have been selected to support the broad device deployment, and are very enthusiastic about the very positive feedback they have received from staff and others about the high quality experience they are having." The Duston School joins more than 3,000 schools in UK and Ireland who are currently using Meru MEG solutions.

Additional information about the Meru MEG solution is available here: http://bit.ly/1cO54KR.

For more information about Meru MobileFLEX, visit the MobileFLEX launch landing page on the Meru web site: http://bit.ly/ZNqPEc.

About Meru NetworksMeru Networks (NASDAQ: MERU) is a market leader in the development of mobile access and virtualized Wi-Fi solutions. Meru's MobileFLEX wireless architecture addresses the ever-growing need for higher bandwidth and higher client densities. The Meru Identity Manager solution greatly simplifies secure device on-boarding and the company's unique Context-aware Application Layers enable dedicated channel assignments for specific applications, devices and usage scenarios. Meru customers include Fortune 500 businesses as well as leaders in education, healthcare and hospitality. Founded in 2002, Meru is headquartered in Sunnyvale, Calif., with operations in North America, Europe, the Middle East, Asia Pacific and Japan. Visit www.merunetworks.com or call (408) 215-5300 for more information.

©2014 Meru Networks. Meru and Meru Networks are registered trademarks and the Meru logo is a trademark of Meru Networks, Inc. in the United States. All other trademarks mentioned in this document are the property of their respective owners. Apple, Apple TV and iPad are trademarks of Apple Inc. registered in the U.S. and other countries.

Image Available: http://www2.marketwire.com/mw/frame_mw?attachid=2500608 Add to Digg Bookmark with del.icio.us Add to Newsvine UK Press Contact: Amanda Hassall Cobra Public Relations [email protected] +44 (0)1628 822741/+44 (0)7855 359889 @mandyhassall US Press Contact: Wilson Craig Director of Public Relations Meru Networks [email protected] +1 408 516 6182 Source: Meru Networks, Inc.

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