SUNNYVALE, CA--(Marketwired - Feb 18, 2015) -  Meru Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ: MERU), a leader in intelligent networking, today announced that Crystal Cruises, the world's leading luxury cruise provider, provides seamless connectivity for guests and crew aboard its award-winning ships, Crystal Symphony and Crystal Serenity, with a Meru intelligent Wi-Fi solution. The company replaced both ships' legacy Wi-Fi networks with a pervasive Meru wireless network in order to increase the performance and number of online services offered while at sea.

"On the ships, Internet bandwidth is severely limited compared to on land, because it goes over satellite, so our most common point of dissatisfaction from guests was that they couldn't get on the Wi-Fi," said Boban Dragojlovic, vice president of computer services at Crystal Cruises. "Since implementing Meru in 2013, guest complaints have essentially gone away. Meru's Wi-Fi solutions and channel layering technology have transformed the way we manage connectivity for our guests. Not only are we able to manage greater densities of user devices, but we can add access points on the fly if necessary to resolve any interference."

Crystal Cruises sails to all seven continents and is the most award-winning cruise line in history, having been voted by travelers as the world's best cruise line. Each Crystal Cruise ship holds about 1,000 passengers and includes a Computer University at Sea, which offers guests a few dozen hands-on classes on everything from using a tablet to editing photos and making movies. Additionally, it offers 80 free movies that guests can stream wirelessly to any device, as well as a variety of daily newspapers that can be downloaded while on the ship. It currently offers daily editions of almost 25 newspapers from around the world using an application called PressReader.

"One of our goals when we set out to deploy a Wi-Fi network was to be able to handle streaming movies and voice-over IP calls," said Dragojlovic. "We can do that with Meru. Prior to upgrading, we didn't have much content on the ship at all, but now that we have a pervasive network, we've expanded the things we offer. We now offer movies and newspaper services, and we're looking at other content we can provide in the future to give guests a better onboard experience."

Crystal Cruises installed 250 Meru wireless access points per ship to deliver highly-reliable and predictable wireless connectivity even in the harshest environments. Meru's Network Manager provides visibility and control of the network, with site-wide monitoring, end-to-end visibility and powerful control of the wireless deployment. The software's intuitive, web-based interface delivers superior ease-of-use, making IT more efficient in performing everyday management tasks.

"Crystal Cruises is committed to providing extraordinary service for its customers, so its wireless solution must be able to meet guests' high expectations," said Sarosh Vesuna, vice president and general manager of Meru's Enterprise Networking Business. "Meru's Wi-Fi solutions are designed for high performance and reliability even in the most severe environments, which made us a perfect fit for Crystal Cruises. We're happy they chose Meru and have been able to improve guests' onboard experience through our wireless network."

About Meru Networks

Meru Networks (NASDAQ: MERU) is a leader in intelligent 802.11ac Wi-Fi solutions delivering uninterrupted user experience for education, healthcare, hospitality and enterprise. The Meru open-standards-based architecture is designed to enable unified management of wired and wireless networks. Its end-to-end application QoS enables enforceable service-level agreements. Meru provides top performance and high capacity in high-density environments. Visit www.merunetworks.com or call (408) 215-5300 for more information.

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