Meraki brings free WiFi to 100,000 San Franciscans

Meraki brings free WiFi to 100,000 San Franciscans

Months after Earthlink gave up on providing municipal wireless service in San Francisco, a company called Meraki is quietly moving forward with its plans to blanket the entire city in free WiFi. In fact, the company just crossed a big threshold — Meraki says more… Continue Reading

Meraki rolls out free WiFi throughout San Francisco

Meraki rolls out free WiFi throughout San Francisco

Meraki, the Google Mafia-run company which builds WiFi repeaters that lets residents surf the Web for free, now says it aims to spread its WiFi network across the entire city of San Francisco.

The company’s offering has proven popular in testing, with more than 40,000 people… Continue Reading

Social router company, FON, raises $13M amid new competition

Social router company, FON, raises $13M amid new competition

(Updated, corrected investor information)

FON, the Madrid, Spain company that offers routers to people that FON members can share if they want, has raised a second round of funding.

It has received $13M from existing investors Index Ventures and Google, and from four undisclosed non-US investors… Continue Reading

Meraki wires square mile in SF with WiFi

Meraki wires square mile in SF with WiFi

Seeking to spur its growth, Google-backed start-up Meraki is wiring up a square mile in a hip part of San Francisco with free Internet access by giving away its mesh WiFi router product.

The region, which has 15,000 residents, covers Mission Dolores Park through the Castro… Continue Reading

Meraki raises $5M to “connect the next billion people”

Meraki raises $5M to “connect the next billion people”

Want a dirt cheap Internet connection for everyone in your apartment building? Meraki Networks offers a way.

The Mountain View start-up provides cheap Wireless Internet connections to people by selling $49-a-piece “mesh” routers, or routers that connect with each other to extend the range of a… Continue Reading

Google invests less than $1M in Meraki for indoor WiFi

Google invests less than $1M in Meraki for indoor WiFi

Compared to other companies its size, Google makes few venture investments, preferring to buy companies outright.

However, it has invested less than $1 million into Mountain View wireless router start-up Meraki Networks, according to GigaOm.

The router is being touted as a way to extend municipal… Continue Reading