I have found that the issue of using full power doesn't seem to affect
the day-to-day use. If I were using a Ruckus in a small office I have
been tempted to reduce power but have found this to be less than useful.
Harry Rauch Sr. Network Analyst Eckerd College 4200 - 54th Ave S St.
Petersburg, FL 33711
On 8/17/11 10:07 AM, Kellogg, Brian D. wrote:
Due to the directional antenna array Ruckus uses they recommend not
using dynamic power management. Those that are using their APs; are
you finding this to be viable in real world deployments?
-Brian #2
*From:*The EDUCAUSE Wireless Issues Constituent Group Listserv
[mailto:[email protected]] *On Behalf Of *Brian Helman
*Sent:* Wednesday, August 17, 2011 9:59 AM
*To:* [email protected]
*Subject:* Re: Ruckus
Lee, one thing to be aware of is that these other companies (Ruckus,
Xirrus, etc) use arrays, not access points. So there are multiple
radios per unit. On a per-radio basis, the number of users may be
similar to a single access point (we've found it to be higher by about
20-30%), but collectively you can get a good number of users per unit.
Another thing to consider is the wiring to feed the AP. If you have
an AP running 11n, do you give it a 100Mbs connection or 1Gbs? Which
is the bigger waste of bandwidth? Now take a multi-radio device and
ask the same question. If you have 4 radios @ 11n each, then a 1Gbs
connection scales perfectly. Now the downside is, what if you only
need to support 10-15 users. An array is overkill.
-Brian
*From:*The EDUCAUSE Wireless Issues Constituent Group Listserv
[mailto:[email protected]] *On Behalf Of *Lee H Badman
*Sent:* Wednesday, August 17, 2011 8:27 AM
*To:* [email protected]
*Subject:* Re: [WIRELESS-LAN] 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:[email protected]]
<mailto:[mailto:[email protected]]>
*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:[email protected]] *On Behalf Of *Harry Rauch
*Sent:* Tuesday, August 16, 2011 12:12 PM
*To:* [email protected]
<mailto:[email protected]>
*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
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