Meraki seeks resellers for its new solar-powered Wi-Fi mesh device

Yes, I am officially one of those people addicted to mobile e-mail, text messages, mobile Facebook. Whatever. Which is why I had to blog about the existence of a new solar-powered Wi-Fi mesh device that promises to fulfill the connection addiction of people like me.

Meraki Solar, which will cost anywhere from $848 to $1,497 depending on the size of the solar panel, is a wireless mesh networking gadget that weighs something like two pounds. It runs on a lithium iron phosphate battery, which is powered by its own solar panel.

The promise of Meraki is quick installation (no wires of ANY sort) in hard to cover areas, such as resorts (all you conference planners out there, take heed), parks, golf courses and so on. Here's a white paper that explains the benefits of solar-powered Wi-Fi. Meraki is already deployed in the Harvard Square area of Cambridge, Mass., where it can be used by the roughly 8 million visitors and residents who congregate there. The Harvard Square Business Association plans to extend the installation with the new solar devices.