Microcom Technologies - The Right Wireless Distributor

MetaGeek
www.metageek.net

Company History
In an era when it too often seems that technology products represent a solution in search of a problem, the story of MetaGeek is one of a simple and elegant engineering response to a ubiquitous challenge. More profoundly, in MetaGeek’s case it is a solution whose price tag opens up a new level of access and a broader market than had previously existed: anyone with the need to visualize their wireless landscape.

Wi-Fi Explodes
Wi-Fi (wireless fidelity) networks are everywhere. From your local coffee shop to enterprise campuses, Wi-Fi local-area networks cover limited areas and must compete with other wireless networks and wireless communications devices that operate on the 2.4-gigahertz band – which includes everything from cordless phones to baby monitors.

And this competition is exploding. Market research company IDC estimates that in 2006 over a billion mobile handsets were shipped worldwide. According to Richard Webb, directing analyst for wireless at Infonetics Research, handsets are rapidly evolving into dual-mode Wi-Fi/cellular VoIP devices with an expected five-year compound annual growth rate of nearly 200 percent over the next four years. During the same period the cellular market should grow by 26 percent, while Wi-Fi handsets will explode by a mind-boggling 1,300 percent!

Riding on the coattails of mobile handset sales, Bluetooth technologies gained significant momentum last year. InStat analyst Brian O’Rourke attributes the sharp increase solely to mobile phones, and ABI Research’s wireless analyst, Stuart Carlaw, estimates that annual Bluetooth chip shipments will reach the billion mark by 2009 due to meet the demand for wireless connectivity among cell phones, wireless headsets, computers, automobiles and consumer electronics.

Visualizing the Wireless Landscape
The comprehensive growth expected in the wireless device market means that the tools needed to install, monitor, analyze and troubleshoot wireless networks will also grow. Wireless airspace is becoming more crowded as the number of devices and technologies that emit frequencies and rely on wireless capabilities increase. At a time when offices have multiple uses and functions and there are more devices connecting people and places, there is a greater likelihood that interference problems may arise.

Spectrum analysis tools have long existed that cover multiple wireless bands, such as Wi-Fi, WiMAX, Bluetooth and RFID, but they have historically been aimed at large-scale, professional installations – as was reflected in their complexity and price. However, as multiple types of wireless technologies have become ubiquitous in the enterprise environment, in-house technicians are turning to newer and less costly solutions to meet their needs.

This is the environment in which Ryan Woodings found himself in. Having recently finished a master’s degree in computer science, Woodings was developing short-range wireless systems for computer mice and keyboards and had to make sure that his wireless systems weren’t interfering with one another. To do this he was using a $30,000 spectrum analyzer. It quickly occurred to him that having to rely on such an expensive piece of equipment for so commonplace but crucial a task would severely limit the average Wi-Fi network operator for whom such an expensive tool was unavailable. There had to be a simpler, and far less expensive, solution.

Wi-Spy
Woodings set about designing a simple, single point solution for anyone with the need to visually understand the nature of their wireless landscape. In a USB package the size of the average portable flash memory drive, he came up with a device that would connect with a laptop computer and collect and display wireless data in a clear and usable format. There are 11 Wi-Fi channels available, and Woodings device could visually show wireless network designers and IT workers which channels are the busiest so they could switch to “quieter” ones. He named the device Wi-Spy and decided to price it at under $200. This compared to the $3,000 price tag that the lowest cost hand-held spectrum analyzers were currently selling for.

Woodings and his wife put their personal savings into hardware and a web site, and in July 2005 MetaGeek, the company that would build and market Wi-Spy, was born. Using a contract manufacturer in California to build the first 240 Wi-Spy devices, Woodings cobbled together a business plan at the urging of a friend and business advisor. The plan called for selling a modest 15 units a month for the first year to reach break even.

Word of Wi-Spy was picked up by a leading tech blog site in December 2005, and by the end of the next day 65 devices had already been sold. In three weeks all the rest of the initial devices were gone as well. Taking the proceeds that the first 240 units brought in, Woodings had 700 more Wi-Spy units manufactured. These were gone by the middle of February 2006, and he ordered 2,000 more. In just over a year, MetaGeek has posted revenues of nearly half a million dollars, and the company expects 2007 revenues to double.

Spectrum Analysis for the Masses
MetaGeek’s phenomenal success as a start-up is as much about the company’s vision as it is the timeliness of its first product, Wi-Spy. MetaGeek provides a small, mobile, affordable and upgradeable product that shows full wireless visibility. While other products available on the market with similar functionality cost thousands of dollars, Wi-Spy’s cost, ease of use and mobility make it an effective tool for any IT consultant to troubleshoot problems quickly and effectively. In short, MetaGeek has lowered the barrier to entry for wireless troubleshooting.

MetaGeek’s goal is to help the small IT consultant alleviate the frustration and confusion of their clients’ wireless environments. As individuals’ mobility continues to increase, the need to troubleshoot and address issues in their wireless network increases as well, and the ability to connect and visualize wireless networks becomes ever more critical in today’s global mobile society.

In pursuit of its mission as a developer of tools that help people visualize their wireless environment, MetaGeek is patenting its technology and will introduce new versions of Wi-Spy that will analyze other lesser-used Wi-Fi channels such as the 5.8-gigahertz band. So far the company has not had to turn to outside funding to operate and is debt free. In recognition of its technology innovations, MetaGeek was recently awarded top honors in the computer hardware and electrical device category in the Stoel Rives Idaho Innovation Awards.

In a connected world that allows people to bridge geography and time, MetaGeek plays a supporting role through its wireless measurement tools. Wireless capabilities increase a company’s ability to conduct business, allowing for a mobile and more connected workforce. MetaGeek brings a unique product to this market that allows individuals to explore, diagnose and troubleshoot their wireless networks. Recognizing that IT staff want to add value by solving problems and issues, MetaGeek’s products provide a cost-effective solution that identifies wireless problems, and in the process MetaGeek puts the power to troubleshoot in the hands of a growing cadre of IT consultants.