We're looking seriously at Ruckus to solve our coverage issues simply due to the fact of where we had to install our APs in our dorms (in the hallways). Our initial tests show much improved SNR over most vendors to the edge of our dorms with their mid-range AP. We had another vendor test almost as good; Aruba (G SNR was a good bit lower but still above 30 in most places, but A was a little higher on average). These tests were in a pristine wireless environment; no sacks of water, books, etc... A lot of the performance difference on the omni antennas, which all use except Ruckus, has to do with the gain and thus the horizontal push from the antenna in our environment. We aren't looking to decrease our AP count.
Brian From: The EDUCAUSE Wireless Issues Constituent Group Listserv [mailto:WIRELESS-LAN@LISTSERV.EDUCAUSE.EDU] On Behalf Of Lee H Badman Sent: Wednesday, August 17, 2011 8:27 AM To: WIRELESS-LAN@LISTSERV.EDUCAUSE.EDU Subject: Re: Ruckus Excellent information, Harry- Thanks. I have a feeling Cisco cringes to read that 3500 APs were tested with 4402s instead of 5508 controllers. -Lee Badman From: Harry Rauch [mailto:rauc...@eckerd.edu] Sent: Wednesday, August 17, 2011 8:22 AM To: The EDUCAUSE Wireless Issues Constituent Group Listserv Cc: Lee H Badman Subject: Re: [WIRELESS-LAN] Ruckus Yes, we ran both systems at max power to allow for greatest range; our densities in some lecture halls were over 150 active users for one array. Ruckus provides a link to Tom's Hardware Guide that has done some extensive testing of several front-line enterprises APs. The results may surprise you. Here's the link. http://www.ruckuswireless.com/press/releases/20110718-independent-test-reveals-ruckus-outperforms-others My suggestion would be to go to Tom's after reading the "filtered" version for a more extensive explanation. Harry Rauch Sr. Network Analyst Eckerd College 4200 - 54th Ave S St. Petersburg, FL 33711 On 8/17/11 8:02 AM, Lee H Badman wrote: Strictly out of scientific curiosity, is the reduction in APs while gaining coverage based on similar power settings in both hardware sets, and how do you answer the "yeah, but what about client capacity concerns in dense areas?" question when the number of APs and uplinks to the network is reduced? Again, no axe to grind, genuinely curious. I know Cisco's CAPWAP solution seems to strive to keep APs at less than full power. It's even a metric in the RMM panel in WCS "AP's at maximum power" and the lower your percentage the "better" things are considered to be, generally speaking. At the same time, we probably all have spaces where maybe 3 APs would fill the building, but three times that are used to keep cell size small and users per AP at a ratio that delivers higher client throughputs on the wireless shared media. In this case, we could certainly reduce our AP counts by upping the power, but it comes with trade-offs. I guess I'm wondering how much of the Ruckus advantages are philosophical (simply use less APs at higher power to cover same space) and how much is technical wizardry. Thanks- Lee Badman Lee H. Badman Wireless/Network Engineer Information Technology and Services Adjunct Instructor, iSchool Syracuse University 315 443-3003 From: The EDUCAUSE Wireless Issues Constituent Group Listserv [mailto:WIRELESS-LAN@LISTSERV.EDUCAUSE.EDU] On Behalf Of Harry Rauch Sent: Tuesday, August 16, 2011 12:12 PM To: WIRELESS-LAN@LISTSERV.EDUCAUSE.EDU<mailto:WIRELESS-LAN@LISTSERV.EDUCAUSE.EDU> Subject: Re: [WIRELESS-LAN] Ruckus We have almost completely converted to Ruckus from Cisco and Extreme. We have had very little need for support; the things just work. We have reduced our AP numbers by over 30% with better coverage. Once installed in a dorm setting we have never had to go back other than one device that drowned from a leaking air-conditioner pan. Our dealer replaced the device at no cost even though water damage of this nature is not covered. The indoor models and outdoor function well and deliver outstanding data, video and VoIP. We are also using the wireless point-to-point bridge at a distance of 500 yards with throughput at 250MB. We have the p2p pair on portable stands; one had blown over during a very bad storm but was able to keep connectivity when hanging upside down with the main dome facing a wall 180 degrees away from it's partner. We didn't realize the issue for several days since it never went down. We use a Zone Director 1000 to establish a mesh group and to keep track of rogue devices. I would like a 3000 but we don't have that in our budget lines at the moment. We have over 100 APs throughout the campus. We have had them almost 2 years with no issues. Client problems have not been an issue. Amazing devices. Harry Rauch Sr. Network Analyst Eckerd College 4200 - 54th Ave S St. Petersburg, FL 33711 On 8/16/11 11:50 AM, Kellogg, Brian D. wrote: Looking for feedback from any institutions using Ruckus as their WLAN solution. Comments on their support, WAPs, Controllers, client problems and any other related topics would be appreciated. Thanks, Brian ********** Participation and subscription information for this EDUCAUSE Constituent Group discussion list can be found at http://www.educause.edu/groups/. ________________________________ No virus found in this message. Checked by AVG - www.avg.com<http://www.avg.com> Version: 10.0.1392 / Virus Database: 1520/3837 - Release Date: 08/16/11 ********** Participation and subscription information for this EDUCAUSE Constituent Group discussion list can be found at http://www.educause.edu/groups/. ********** Participation and subscription information for this EDUCAUSE Constituent Group discussion list can be found at http://www.educause.edu/groups/. ________________________________ No virus found in this message. Checked by AVG - www.avg.com<http://www.avg.com> Version: 10.0.1392 / Virus Database: 1520/3839 - Release Date: 08/16/11 ********** Participation and subscription information for this EDUCAUSE Constituent Group discussion list can be found at http://www.educause.edu/groups/. ********** Participation and subscription information for this EDUCAUSE Constituent Group discussion list can be found at http://www.educause.edu/groups/.
