Ruckus

[e4e]

We are in the process of getting quotes together for a new wireless network. I am taken with the Ruckus solution. Do any of you on here have any first hand experience of there offerings and why did you chose these over Meru, Aerohive and HP options.

 

Thank you in advance

[localzuk]

We've been running Ruckus here for about 5 years now. When we got it, the competition was complicated and a lot more expensive. It is super simple to get it working - out of box and in use in 5 minutes basically. It just works - we set it up and ignore it basically.

 

However, since then, Ruckus have changed their minimum support level so if you wish to get firmware updates you have to pay more than in the past (ie. there's no "software updates only" support package any more. My boss balked at this increased cost here!

 

So, make sure you factor the ongoing support cost into it if you do go for it.

[Joanne]

Ruckus is totes amazeballs. I helped install it in several schools in my last job and never had any issues with it. Just got it installed here at my new school and it is working like a dream.

[sparkeh]

Yep Ruckus is awesome, easy to setup and I haven't needed to do anything to it in years.

[e4e]

What have you found wireless coverage like. I am getting told same coverage with less access points which is a concern to me. But the building we have is a single story built out of breeze block and brick with nothing nasty hidden to cause degradation in signal

[Joanne]

I've got 12 ZoneFlex 7300's over 2500 square metres. According to my zone director, average signal is 77%

[localzuk]

The coverage is great. We were quoted for 25+ APs with an Aruba system, or 15 with our Ruckus. Average signal strength on our site is 79%.

[sparkeh]

Yeah coverage is good and we needed less APs than other solutions.

 

Though I would advise you get someone in to make sure they are placed at the correct locations. Mark from @CPLTD came and produced a map for us.

[Boredguy]

We had a couple of site surveys done for other brands, both with a AP and just walking around with laptop and signal detector.

 

For our site both surveys came back as needing over 60 access points to cover our 13 buildings.

A ruckus survey with the AP that we were being quoted for was done and we needed less than 50 to get the same coverage.

Just waiting for a revised quote to arrive in my mailbox and then it's the fun of getting the cables in place.

[Net-Ctrl]

Ruckus installs do tend to require less APs when compared to other solutions. If you're unsure on AP numbers you can always ask the company you're working with to do a site survey, companies tend to offer two types of which i went into a bit of detail on this thread: http://www.edugeek.net/forums/wireless-networks/136923-wireless-survey.html

 

In regards to support terms, Ruckus are currently running a promotion whereby you will save some money if you purchase a 3 or 5 year support contract with a particular kit list. So this will keep you ticking over for sometime.

 

If you have any questions, salesy or tech, feel free to PM me.