The unlimited growth potential with a mesh network makes this topology attractive for large enterprises and municipalities whose technology add-ons and needs are in a constant state of flux. Think local, state and regional municipalities and other organizations spread out across a vast landscape, or even the smaller customer who wants to stay connected reliably.

"Wireless mesh communications systems are endlessly scalable and customers can own and operate the network from end-to-end, so there are no limits to the growth potential for their businesses," said Tom Kenty, general manager of Sales for AES IntelliNet, a product of AES Corp., Peabody, Mass.

Grow with it

A mesh network has different configurations and offers redundancy through nodes and mesh access points (APs) which communicate with one another offering increased connection speeds and functionality. "A Wi-Fi mesh can reach a speed, connection speed/throughputs, that no public network can touch at this point," said Chip Yager, director of Operations, Motorola Mesh Networks Product Group, Holtsville, N.Y. Developers of the technology date back to the creation of military field communications, where licensed defense technology by a company called Mesh Networks was developed for the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). The exclusive rights to its development were not based on Wi-Fi or standard space but on ruggedized battlefield communications.

After years of focusing on its development to create a reliable wireless solution, the promise of a versatile system of tomorrow is here today. "Our focus has been on developing a wireless solution that could set itself apart in the market in terms of reliability, flexibility and ease of use," said Cosimo Malesci, co-founder and vice president of Marketing, Fluidmesh Networks, Boston, Mass. "We looked to differentiate ourselves through optimized transmission protocol." Networking is all about achieving better performances in terms of sustainable throughput and latency, two key parameters for video surveillance applications. "Transmission protocols need to be more resilient to interferences common issues in urban areas," added Malesci.