We are currently in the process of field testing our solar powered repeater. For this project, we used a Meraki Outdoor repeater connected to a 5 watt solar panel. Although we realize the 5 watt panel will not be enough juice to keep the repeater up 24 hours per day, we are swapping in and out several different panels to gather data on the optimal setup for New England sun indexes. However, we are using this beta unit in an actual production implementation, so we have a fail-safe trickle charger. This charger will power on the repeater via hardline power once voltage drops below a sustainable level.

We don’t have a ton of data from this implementation yet, as we deployed only a few days ago. However, we do have high expectations for the intelligence we will gain from this project in an effort to develop a low cost, universal solution for solar powered wifi.

Check out the gallery here.

Today, in one of our municipal implementations we pushed the limit of power-over-ethernet (POE). Using a single, twisted pair CMX Cat 5E cable and high quality RJ45 connectors we were able to run 15 volts of POE through two walls and over a distance of 284.5ft.

A very impressive number indeed, especially with only 15 volts being injected. At the end of our low resistance cabling we experienced a loss of only 1.85 volts.

Our POE run, via satellite imagery.

We figured we would share some cool pictures of various implementations for the Harvard Square network we completed. We were able to put these units in some pretty unique locations with great views of the area.

Check out the photo gallery here.

We deployed a beta installation in an Archstone property to showcase our ability to deploy as well as to test the (at the time) new Meraki Outdoor units in an actual outdoor installation. The test started in the fall and ended up continuing through the New England winter and into the spring without any outages.

We powered the Meraki OD2 via power over ethernet through standard Cat 5E. For an antenna, we used a custom 7dbi omni-directional antenna with a RP-SMA pigtail to avoid any unnecessary signal loss. In the last few days of this beta test, we hooked the repeater up to a 12dbi directional antenna and were able to flawlessly transmit data nearly 1.2 miles to a Meraki Mini with a stock antenna.

This unit was located on the 15th floor - again, we were able to snap some pictures of one of our units in a pretty spectacular location.

Check out the pictures here.

In typical Anaptyx fashion, we tested the new Meraki Outdoor units before being comfortable with implementing them in any of our installations. After conducting an extensive battery of extreme weather tests on the Meraki Outdoor OD2 units we are extremely please with the results and comfortable with implementing the units in any climate, from extreme New England winters to the dry heat of Arizona.

Check out the results here.

Here is a quick picture of an outdoor enclosure we created to house all non-outdoor-friendly POE equipment. This enclosure comes in very handy for situations where there is a GFCI power outlet outside or on a rooftop and running Cat 5 isn’t an economical, viable or quick solution.

This is basically an outdoor NEMA rated enclosure with holes drilled to accommodate a 16 gauge outdoor extension cord in on one side and put out Cat 5 on the other. The extension cord would plug into the GFCI outlet, running into the enclosure where the indoor rated power supply and POE injector are located - putting current out to the repeater over the ethernet cable.

We used GE BioSeal 2 silicon sealant to seal the holes we drilled in the enclosure. When testing for leaks, it withstood extreme rain and a one hour 3 foot underwater submersion without so much as a drop of water getting entering. The only drawback to this enclosure is that it’s hard to get a good seal again once it is opened - essentially a non-issue since there is no smart equipment inside. If you need to do a hard reset you can simply disconnect the extension cord from the GFCI outlet for a few seconds.

Check out a picture here.

With NetEquality discontinuing their wall plug adapter, we decided to try and come up with our own similiar solution. The product was extremely easy to reverse engineer. Although we are unsure of exactly how NetEquality made their unit (we were never able to get one in time), we figure it to be nearly identical.

Once we found an enclosure that fit, we realized the design was ingenious, with the wall plug unit able to maintain UL certification by using the original adapter.

This solution set us back only about $4.00 in hardware costs on top of the cost for the Meraki Mini itself. No word yet on whether or not this solution will work with the new Meraki indoors.

Check out the pictures here.

Because this is proprietary hardware still under development we are unable to give many details. However, there are some good pictures of the unit, which is powered by a very robust processor housed on an ALIX board with dual gigabit LAN ports.

Media Gallery here.