Meru Networks Enables Complete Mobility for Guests and Staff of Sheraton Greensboro Hotel and Convention Center and Grandover Resort.

Superior Security and Mobility with full Quality of Service Features in Hospitality Wireless LAN Decision

SUNNYVALE, Calif. -- Meru Networks, the leader in workplace mobility infrastructure for data, wireless voice (VoIP) and video, today announced that the Sheraton Greensboro Hotel at Four Seasons, with its adjoining Joseph S. Koury Conference Center, and the Grandover Resort have deployed the Meru Networks Wireless LAN (WLAN) System. Located a few miles apart in Greensboro, North Carolina, the two privately-owned Koury Corporation properties are separated by a metro Ethernet with Meru Network's wireless products supporting both properties' wireless networks.

The new Meru wireless network covers the Sheraton hotel, with its 28 story tower with more than 1000 hotel rooms and the entire 250,000 square foot convention center; and the Grandover Resort, with its more than 240 hotel rooms and 45,000 square foot conference facilities. The Meru wireless network provides all hotel guests, staff and conference attendees with wireless connectivity throughout the lobbies, guest rooms, and meeting spaces.

Prior to deploying the Meru system, Sheraton had installed a legacy micro-cell based wireless network for limited Internet access in common areas and some of the guest rooms. As the needs of staff and guests grew, the legacy system was not able to support the increasing number of users, advanced security needs or seamless roaming. In testing the Meru WLAN System, Sheraton found the system was able to easily meet these requirements while providing faster through-put and greater reliability. The Grandover Resort was built as a state of the art facility, so a wireless network was required. The new wireless network uses the Meru MC3150 controller and 125 AP208 access points.

With Meru's unique architecture, no additional network layering was required to mitigate co-channel interference between access points. Unlike traditional channel planning architectures from other vendors, Meru's virtual cell approach allowed for a plug-and-play deployment and allowed the hotel to have the system up-and-running in record time to meet the busy convention center schedule.

"In making the decision to provide our guests and conference attendees with a wireless Internet connection, we quickly realized we had some serious challenges involving roaming, unpredictable usage patterns and security issues," said Dennis Stephens, Koury Corporation, Hospitality Division controller. "We work with demanding and technology-savvy customers, who require seamless connectivity throughout the facilities. When we have events like the International Furniture Market, they need to know that they can conduct business securely and will get guaranteed performance on our wireless network. The entire process of deploying Meru Networks was incredibly simple, and most importantly, we have never received a single complaint from a guest regarding their wireless connection."

The Meru WLAN System ensures optimal performance for every client on the network by assigning each client to the best service access point - a key element in supporting the unique demands of the hospitality industry where there is continually fluctuating user demand. With Meru's unique channel layering capabilities, it is easy to add capacity without increasing network complexity, an important consideration for future expansion.

"We know that the hospitality industry, where mobility and user experience are critical elements of their service imposes unique challenges for most WLAN deployments," said Ken Creager, senior director of field marketing at Meru Networks. "Meru's infrastructure is ideally suited to this fluctuating environment and is able to provide mission critical and seamless communications. Meru's WLAN delivers highly secure and reliable mobile service, and capacity to handle the constantly changing client usage patterns that are a reality for any convention and hotel facility."

About Meru Networks

Meru Networks is the global leader in wireless mobility infrastructure solutions that enable the All-Wireless Enterprise for Fortune 500 educational, healthcare, enterprise, and government markets. Its industry-leading innovations deliver pervasive, robust wireless service for business-critical applications. Meru's award-winning Air Traffic Control technology brings the benefits of the cellular world to the WLAN environment, and it offers the only solution on the market that delivers the reliability, scalability, and security necessary for converged voice and data services over a single WLAN infrastructure. Founded in 2002, Meru is based in Sunnyvale, California. For more information, visit www.merunetworks.com or call [phone].