Bluetooth in Wireless Access Points

[Kevin Melton]

Forum,

I watched a Meraki product launch Webcast earlier today.  One of the new access points to be available soon will have a 4th radio in it, which is a bluetooth radio.

Can someone provide a real life scenario where a bluetooth radio would be needed in a Wireless Access Point?

Thank You,

Kevin

[George Stefanick]

Hi Kevin,

There is a new emerging technology called way finding or location awareness. There are companies like Phunware and Meridan that use BLE (bluetooth low energy) for location and to drive alerts to smart devices like coupons. In other words you pass by this AP I can flash some info on your phone. Or maybe I can use to to position you on a map in a APP. 

Make sense?

[mohanak]

New Beacon technology, based on BLE, enables applications that more actively engage your on–site visitors and customers. Beacons broadcast periodic advertisements over Bluetooth. Visitors’ devices hear the advertisements and trigger opt–in location services, such as a push notification on a smartphone or indoor navigation assistance. iBeacons, Apple’s opt–in form of BLE, enable such services and are integrated into the MR32 and MR72. Beacon–enabled services add to the rich location capabilities already available on the Meraki APs through CMX (Connected Mobile Experience).

https://meraki.cisco.com/blog/2014/12/introducing-new-802-11ac-aps-with-beacons/

https://meraki.cisco.com/blog/2015/01/the-benefits-of-integrated-access-point-beacon-technology/

[Dora Cocoara]

Hi Kevin,

We at Onyx Beacon find your question really interesting, which is why we would like to provide an interesting use case where the bluetooth radio in a Wireless access point would come in handy.

The use case is dedicated to asset tracking projects that can assist employees/managers to have a broad overview of their infrastructure on premise. With the bluetooth radio in the AP you can constantly monitor the region and report back to a backend system that can share more comprehensive information on what's happening in your facilities.

If you'd like to find out more about this type of implementation, feel free to reach out and we can have a more detailed conversation.

Looking forward to hearing from you,

Razvan.