Harvard Square, MA: Outdoor Wireless & WiFi

Municipalities: Harvard Square, MA


Challenge • To invigorate the Harvard Square area and local business community by providing free public wireless for its 8 million yearly visitors. • Deploy WiFi quickly, without disrupting local businesses, or extensive new cabling. • Remain consistent with community vision for green development and commerce Meraki Solution • 3 Meraki Indoors + 26 Meraki Outdoors + 3 Meraki Solars • Cost: $10,142 Results • 24 acres of public space blanketed in wireless • Service has injected personality and commercial enthusiasm into the public square and contributed to local economic growth • Free WiFi has driven local foot traffic and is contributing to the ongoing sustainability efforts and energy policies of the City of Cambridge • Free WiFi has also driven substantial internet traffic directly to www.harvardsquare.com providing measurable economic benefits to the businesses who are members of the Harvard Square Business Association (HSBA).		It's been an incredibly easy and affordable solution. The Solar units in particular were a great way to expand the network fast. Meraki should be a model for any community. It works and has exceeded our highest expectations! Denise Jillson Executive Director of the Harvard Square Business Association

The Full Story

Harvard Square is the bustling hub of the City of Cambridge. Home to both Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology; it features bookstores, boutique shops, theaters, coffeehouses and restaurants, as well as public open space.

"The Harvard Square Business Association thought that free public WiFi would be a wonderful accommodation for visitors, students and residents while driving internet traffic to www.harvardsquare.com which features a daily calendar of events and information about local businesses," said Denise Jillson, Executive Director of the association. "

Jillson spent two years researching possible WiFi solutions when finally, a networking consultant walked in carrying a Meraki Outdoor. "This is it," he said.

"I thought there's no way that little thing could transmit everywhere," Jillson recalled. "But, at only a couple hundred dollars each, we could buy 30 or so and if they worked, great. If not, we wouldn't have invested as much compared to other options, which would cost us several hundred thousand dollars."

Jillson ordered two dozen, and hired local networking company Anaptyx to deploy them over the course of 3 days. "It worked immediately, and it has worked ever since," she says. Jillson reports more than 25,000 users in the first 3 months. "People are delighted with the service."

When it came time to expand the network, Anaptyx and Jillson considered Meraki Solar an ideal option. They needed a solution they could deploy on roofs quickly, and were concerned about disrupting local businesses during the installation. Because Meraki Solar comes with its own power source, Ken Carnesi, CEO of Anaptyx, was confident his team would need only minimal time up on the roofs. "A lot of the effort in deploying wireless equipment on roofs involves running the electricity up there. If that's not required, the install will go much faster. "

That Anaptyx didn't have to tap into the local power grid was also a plus for Jillson: She knew the community would appreciate the green nature of Meraki Solar, because it runs on its own power, not the local grid.

"It's so nice to sit here in my office, see people outside in cafes, or just sitting outside, hanging out, online with their laptops, having fun. It's exactly what we were looking for. Without any bumps in the road," Jillson said. "There has not been a technical innovation spearheaded by the Harvard Square Business Association with as significant an impact to the collective community as Meraki."