Pepperdine University Saves Substantial Time, Effort, and Money Using Xirrus Wi-Fi

Business Wire, August 4, 2008

Xirrus Active Site Survey Backed Up by Their Guarantee is a Prescription for Success

WESTLAKE VILLAGE, Calif. -- Xirrus, Inc., the only Wi-Fi "Power-Play" that can replace Ethernet workgroup switches with Wi-Fi as the primary network connection, announced that Pepperdine University has deployed 161 XS8 Wi-Fi Arrays (1,288 radios) at their Malibu, California campus resulting in a high performance design while using 75% fewer devices, cable drops, and switch ports than competitive offerings.

"Anyone deploying Wi-Fi in a university setting is foolish not to evaluate Xirrus. They engage like an expert consultant, execute like a full service integrator, and work alongside you right up to the end -- making sure you are successful," said Tim Chester, CIO of Pepperdine University. "We were in the midst of a Wi-Fi implementation with another vendor when I noticed the project costs getting out of control due to the use of a predictive site survey rather than an active site survey. I called in Xirrus and within days they had accomplished a comprehensive free site survey, delivered a plan to execute to, and backed it up with a guarantee and a price that allowed us to deliver more and stay within budget."

Wi-Fi site surveys are critical to the success of Wi-Fi deployments as they determine the placement and amount of Wi-Fi equipment required to meet the performance, coverage, and cost parameters for the planned Wi-Fi network. There are two major types of site surveys:

* Predictive site surveys utilize floor plans and software to estimate the coverage, placement, and amount of equipment required. However, these predictive surveys used by most Wi-Fi vendors are inaccurate as they fail to recognize RF issues found in the actual environments.

* Active site surveys utilize actual Wi-Fi products in the actual environment where the network is to be deployed to measure the exact coverage, performance, placement, and amount of equipment required. Because of the unique, fully integrated design of the Wi-Fi Array, active site surveys are fast, easy, accurate, and most importantly can be guaranteed.

"Coverage alone is not a sufficient condition for wireless 'device rich' environments. For example, one of our six student dormitory suites on average contains six laptops, two desktops, six mobile phones, several wireless music systems, and several wireless video gaming systems. To successfully meet end user demand in a 'device rich' environment like this you must implement a dense radio design and operate on as many channels as possible to deliver the maximum amount of throughput possible. Xirrus is the only manufacturer that we felt was up to this challenge," added Tim.

"Xirrus is not just about having a superior product, but also fielding a superior team focused on achieving 100% customer satisfaction," said Dirk Gates, CEO and Founder of Xirrus. "We are proud to offer the most powerful Wi-Fi architecture in the industry, but we are just as proud that our team is made up of Wi-Fi experts who engage directly with the customer and guarantee the success of each and every implementation."

"The intent of the Xirrus architecture is different from any other Wi-Fi offering, because we are focused on eliminating traditional wired Ethernet workgroup switches by replacing them with our Wi-Fi Arrays," added Dirk. "To put it bluntly, we are the traditional switch manufacturer's worst nightmare, because there is finally a wireless product that is powerful enough to deliver the capacity, performance, and security to replace wired switches while improving the quality of experience of the end user."

About Pepperdine University

Pepperdine University is an independent university enrolling approximately 8,300 students in five colleges and schools. Seaver College, the School of Law, the Graduate School of Education and Psychology, the Graziadio School of Business and Management, and the School of Public Policy are located on the University's 830-acre campus overlooking the Pacific Ocean in Malibu. Courses are taught in Malibu, at six graduate campuses in Southern California, and at international campuses in Germany, England, Italy, and Argentina. The University was founded in 1937 by George Pepperdine, a Christian businessman who founded the Western Auto Supply Company. It is the purpose of Pepperdine University to pursue the very highest academic standards within a context that celebrates and extends the spiritual and ethical ideals of the Christian faith. For more information, please visit pepperdine.edu.

About Xirrus

Xirrus, the leader in high performance Wi-Fi, designs and manufactures the patented Wi-Fi Array. The Xirrus Wi-Fi Array obsoletes traditional Wi-Fi offerings by integrating 4, 8, or 16 radios and high-gain directional antennas into a single device along with an onboard Gigabit Switch, Wi-Fi Controller, Firewall, dedicated Wi-Fi Threat Sensor, and embedded Spectrum Analyzer, providing the performance and security to replace Ethernet workgroup switches with Wi-Fi technology. The Xirrus Wi-Fi Array delivers more range, more coverage, more bandwidth, more throughput, and more intelligence per cable drop than anything else available today - resulting in a solution that uses 75% fewer devices, cabling, switch ports, and installation time compared with any other offering. Xirrus Wi-Fi Arrays are ideal for any organization moving towards Wi-Fi as their primary network connection, especially those that must cover large areas, support large user populations, and/or use high bandwidth/throughput applications.