Our primary consideration with hardware selection was cost, reliability and performance. It is our belief that mesh access points need to be as affordable as possible to ensure self-sustained growth of the network. Below is a description of the hardware platform we eventually settled on, after testing and evaluating numerous others.

The Meraki Mini has a 60mW radio, supports 802.11 b/g, uses just 3.5W of power, has a RP-SMA antenna jack, allowing easy replacement of the stock 2dBi omni-directional antenna without modification and supports Power over Ethernet, allowing a single cable to carry both power and data. The white blends in well with home decor, which can be important to end users. The indoor version costs $149 and the outdoor version is $199.

Meraki Mini (EOL)	Meraki Mini Outdoor (EOL)	Meraki Indoor	Meraki Outdoor

Equipment from Meraki [was] low cost, has zero end user configuration, a back-end management system and most importantly, wireless mesh capabilities. This allows for several advantages. First, bandwidth usage is controlled, so one user doesn’t saturate any one Internet connection. Second, remote monitoring and management allows us to get an idea of network health/usage and modify configuration remotely. Third, as opposed to traditional wireless networks, which require an Internet connection at every access point, Meraki devices can relay data as many times needed until it reaches an Internet connected access point (gateway), significantly reducing the cost of building the network.

Meraki Mini repeaters use the commercial implementation of the SrcRR MIT Roofnet mesh routing protocol, which focuses on finding high-throughput routes in the face of lossy links. Roofnet ran on standard x86 PCs (expensive) and later on the discontinued Netgear WGT634U. After the Roofnet project, several members of the original team created Meraki, Inc. which developed the Meraki Mini, a low cost ($49), small, low-power, mesh routing platform. The protocol has also undergone significant development and improvement, along with the addition of a web based management/monitoring system.

The Meraki Mini ($49) and Meraki Mini Outdoor ($99) have both been discontinued. They have been replaced with the Meraki Indoor ($149) and Meraki Outdoor ($199).

Indoor Meraki in weather resistant case	Mounted outdoors

Parts List for Weather Resistant Enclosure

Mouser # 563-PN-1332 - NEMA 4X Plastic Enclosure 6.3 X 3.15 X 2.17 (I would recommend the Light Gray, which should keep the Meraki Mini cooler) makes a good outdoor enclosure for the Meraki Mini. The 563-PN-1332-DG is Dark Gray and the 563-PN-1332-C is Light Gray with a clear plastic lid.

Mouser # 563-NG-9512 - NEMA Cable Gland .16” -.31” works well for a weather resistant Ethernet cable pass through.

Mouser # 563-NG-9515 - NEMA Cable Gland .39”-.55” is pictured above as the weather resistant pass through for the 9dBi antenna.

Mouser Electronics is an excellent parts supplier that deals in small quantities with very fast shipping. Just enter the part numbers above into the search box on www.mouser.com

HyperlinkTech # HG2409RD-RSP - 2.4 GHz 9 dBi Reverse Polarity-SMA High Performance “Rubber Duck” Wireless LAN Antenna

The Meraki Mini is secured in the enclosure using silicone sealant. It's not an ideal solution, but seems to work well enough. None of the screw stand-offs in the enclosure lined up with any convenient mounting locations on the Meraki Mini. I also didn't want the RP-SMA connector taking all the stress of wind, etc. against the antenna. There are now at least three of these outdoor Meraki Minis in use, one is sheltered under an overhang and two are out in the open, pictures can be found in the Photo Gallery.

Someone in our group mentioned ya had a post on the meraki beta board, so here I am.

One thing ya might want to think about is UV exposure, an indoor antenna will turn to dust if ya leave it exposed to the elements, plastic NEMA boxes have some UV protection as well as gray sch 40 pipe for power, it will say something like for use above and below grade, and something like sunlight protected. I just took down some old sch 40 pipe (weather rated) that was part of a mast for my 8 dbi outdoor rated omni and that thing was really nuked by UV after being on my roof for 3 years in direct sun. Had some issues with the old community WiFi setup so we too are beta testing the meraki, btw check out the photo of the quick and dirty meraki outdoor install (and you will see the fine print on the sch 40 pipe that says its weather rated)

http://www.phaster.com/golden_hill_free_web/#solar_meraki

Going the cheap route I'd paint the antenna white (with a can of spary on plastic paint), which is what I'm going to do with my home brew enclosure to protect the whole package from UV,

http://www.phaster.com/golden_hill_free_web/wifi_walkabout_ready_to_roll.jpg

btw the best way I've discovered to get paint to stick to plastic is to sand blast the plastic surface (I'm lucky in that I have a shop with a sand blasting parts cleaning station, but think light sanding with sand paper would work too), clean off the surface afterward with a mild solvent, then use “KRYLON Fusion Spray Paint for Plastic” which isn't the best stuff around but seems to work

Antenna UV Protection

An excellent point is made above, one that I did not consider. The 9dBi antenna is designed for indoor use and as a result has no UV protection. After lightly sanding the antenna to help the paint stick, I painted it off-white using Krylon Fusion spray paint for plastic. The coat of paint should help protect the antenna from UV rays and extend it's life. It even looks better. I would now recommend going over the coat of white spray paint with a coat of Krylon #1305 UV-Resistant Clear.

Additional Waterproofing

Based on information from the CUWiN Manual on building rugged outdoor nodes, I have come up with additional recommendations for building an outdoor Meraki Mini. The NEMA cable gland on the top of the enclosure is a weak point for water entry. Depending on climate, the possibility of water pooling on the top of the cable gland, freezing and causing expansion can be a significant risk. UV light can break down the rubber in the cable gland. The stress of wind and rain against the antenna can flex the connection. I have come up with three additional recommendations to help reduce this risk:

1. First, wrap the antenna NEMA cable gland (overlapping onto the antenna) with 3M Scotch® 23 Rubber Splicing Tape
2. Second, wrap the same connection with 3M Scotch® Super 33+ Vinyl Electrical Tape
3. Third, spray the tape wrap and antenna with Krylon #1305 UV-Resistant Clear spray paint

The rubber splicing tape (also known as mastic tape) and electrical tape will form a water resistant barrier. The clear spray paint helps prevent the ends of the tape from unraveling, provides UV protection and acts as an additional sealant.

The antennas we have tested so far have come from Hyperlinktech, which include a 9dBi and 5.5dBi with RP-SMA connector. The 9dBi omni-directional has been used mostly for outdoor nodes, they're cheap and provide decent gain. The Bud NEMA Cable Gland .39”-.55” (Mouser part #563-NG-9515) fits the 9dBi omni-directional antenna nicely. We've found that 2dBi antennas work well indoors, especially in multi-floor buildings. The majority of users won't be connecting with anything higher gain anyway, so it's a good match.

Meraki has provided some estimated ranges with the stock 2dBi antenna:

The range can also be extended by using an antenna with a higher gain:

Based on advice from the Roofnet project, we have been testing/deploying omni-directional antennas primarily.

It should be noted that wireless devices ares FCC certified for use with a particular antenna. Per section 15.204 of Part 15 of the FCC rules and regulations, using anything other than the certified antenna is not allowed.

RadioLabs: 2.4 GHz Wireless Range Extender Amplifier $119.95	High-Gain Antennas: 1 Watt 802.11 b/G amplifier $89

Results indoors have been disappointing. I see a gain of about 10dB on power output, although clients tend to associate with a nearby stock Meraki rather than the amplified Meraki. Based on third party reviews, I expect to gain only 25-30ft of additional coverage when associating with a standard wireless client. However, the distance between two amplified Merakis should be significantly farther. According to specifications, the Radiolabs amplifier introduces 2.5dB of noise while the High-Gain Antennas amplifier introduces 3.7dB of noise, which is fairly significant.

Note that the use of antennas which have not been approved for use with specific radios is illegal in the US per section 15.204 of Part 15 of the FCC rules and regulations.

I tested a standard wireless client connecting to an amplified access point, indoors and out. I achieved about 10dB gain on the received signal from the access point. Although the actual increase in range wasn't what I hoped. About 1 additional wall indoors and 30ft outdoors. This is likely due to the client not being strong enough to reach back to the access point. The receive amp didn't seem to help in this situation and the amplifier itself induces about 2.5dB of noise (according to specifications). I concluded that in point to point links, amplifying both sides would be very beneficial. However amplifying outdoor access points doesn't make particular sense in this deployment, true they can be spaced farther apart, but clients will have a harder time connecting to them. Even though a higher density mesh is harder to deploy, I believe it will provide better coverage/reliability. Basically the same conclusion as Meraki:

We choose a lower-power radio for our Meraki Mini for two reasons. First, in most real-world network deployments, high-density, low-power meshes have significant performance and coverage advantages compared to low-density, high-power ones. For example, in areas where the 2.4GHz band is overwhelmed with loud radio transmissions, a low-power, high-density network will be less affected by the large amounts of interference. We encourage customers to use this advantage by simply deploying more nodes, increasing network redundancy and reliability. This is also why Meraki works to keep the cost of our hardware as low as possible. Second, we wanted to make sure the Mini could be deployed worldwide. We limited the transmission power to 60mW in order to comply with the 100mW EIRP EU regulation.

To lower cost, Power over Ethernet injectors have been built using a dual RJ-45 surface mount jack and either the power supply included with the Meraki Mini (7.5V), or a higher voltage 12V power supply for longer (50+ft) Ethernet runs. Keep in mind the Meraki Mini Outdoor comes with a power over Ethernet adapter.

• Connect the positive (+) voltage from the power supply to pins 4 and 5 on one of the Ethernet jacks.
• Connect the negative (-) voltage from the power supply to pins 7 and 8 on the same Ethernet jack.
• Bridge pins 1 and 2, as well as 3 and 6 between the two Ethernet jacks.
• Label which Ethernet jack is for the Meraki (has power) and which Ethernet jack connects to the network.

If you would rather purchase a pre-made PoE adapter, http://www.netgate.com or http://www.mini-box.com/s.nl/sc.8/.f?search=18V+PoE sells them for about $10.