When MetroNational, a billion dollar real estate investment, development and management company based in Houston, Texas, set out to renovate the local shopping mall, it had working parents in mind. Looking to keep people in touch while providing a place to shop and play, MetroNational turned to CDW and Proxim.
CDW, a value-added reseller, recommended wireless technology to outfit the mall. The Memorial City Mall in Houston has deployed Proxim's AP-4000 Access Points to deliver Wi-Fi hot spots throughout, allowing access to the Internet or office networks in multi-purpose areas of the mall. MetroNational has also deployed Proxim's Tsunami broadband wireless solutions to remotely manage and monitor three nearby multi-story office buildings and connect the buildings to the company's corporate network.
"As part of our recent $300 million renovation of the Memorial City Mall, MetroNational envisioned the mall as a community centre where people could work and shop and children could play," said Brian Peterson, PC/LAN Coordinator for MetroNational. "Proxim's Wi-Fi hot spot solution lets parents connect to work or do their banking while watching their children ice-skate."
Working with CDW, MetroNational implemented four Proxim Tsunami Point-to-Multipoint 20 Mbps wireless Ethernet bridges within a few miles radius to connect the mall and three office buildings located across a freeway. For the mall hot spots, they deployed Proxim AP-4000s at the facility's skating rink and plan to expand hot spots to the food court area of the mall in the near future. Mobile workers can enjoy the flexibility of working where their personal lives take them.
"The Proxim Tsunami bridges delivered the reliability, coverage and central management we were looking for at significantly lower costs than either leased lines or other broadband wireless solutions," said Brian Peterson, PC/LAN Coordinator for MetroNational. "Not only were they easy to install, mount and manage, but they've worked flawlessly from the day we deployed them."
"We are excited about the potential of our wireless network," Peterson added. "One of Proxim's key advantages was its ability to offer both indoor and outdoor products."