Ruckus Wireless Resellers - Not All The Same

[Net-Ctrl]

Recently we have received calls for help from Ruckus customers who did not purchase their equipment from Net-Ctrl. It appears in many cases that their reseller may have incorrectly sold the solution, didn’t undertake an accurate survey, or poorly installed the equipment.

 

The rise in popularity with Ruckus in education has resulted in a large number of resellers adding the solution to their portfolio, without fully knowing how to support, install or sell it.

 

What we would always advise, with any company is checking their credentials (I’m sure this would come as second nature anyway):

 

• How many engineers do they have to support you?

• Can they provide wireless site surveys?

• How long have they supplied the solution?

• How many Ruckus customers do they have?

• What partner level are they?

• How long has the partner been in business?

 

Both Net-Ctrl and @CPLTD, who operate on this forum, are top tier Ruckus partners, which isn’t an easy feat to achieve. We’re two of only a very select few in the UK.

 

What this means is that we will have access to the best price possible, but it also means that Ruckus recognise that we have a number of engineers to support you, that we have supplied the product for a great number of year, have a large number of customers using the solution and have passed all their relevant tests and accreditations.

 

So make sure you cause a Ruckus the right way, so you can bask in the glory of having awesome, problem free, WiFi!

[FN-GM]

Credit for giving credit to a competitor! Thanks for the post, most helpful!

[synaesthesia]

As someone who saw the mess left by a bad Ruckus installer, I absolutely agree. Network cables joined by chocolate blocks, points placed where it was most convenient rather than where the coverage required it and after-sales support that left me suggesting they contact the local CP Ltd instead. It pays to get things done properly!

[snagrat]

There are of course many smaller companies that do supply Ruckus and do it well.

[Net-Ctrl]

There are of course many smaller companies that do supply Ruckus and do it well.

 

There certainly is a lot of smaller companies that are brilliant and offer a great service, and this isn't aimed at those companies at all. We have just noticed an increase on what we would call 'box shifters' that look to sell a product on quickly, with no knowledge of it at all. More often than not, they sell the wrong item, wrong quantities or bodge the install.

[Haptic]

There are of course many smaller companies that do supply Ruckus and do it well.

 

It isn't the supplying at all, it is the more the post sales/post installation support. The part where most tend to disappear!

 

It isn't a small, off the shelf purchase. It is a solution and as such needs be supported correctly.

 

 

Chris

[Asgard]

I think some of you may recall the post I put up about our Ruckus installation and our supplier (http://www.edugeek.net/forums/wireless-networks/138936-ruckus-radius-eduroam.html)

 

basically we "thought" we were paying for support with Ruckus, and as it turns out we were paying (more than a normal Ruckus support contract) direct to the company...., now we had been with this supplier since 2009 and it was only when we had a problem that it came to light that our support was basically invalid....

 

A quick change to @CPLTD, who actually offered some free and impartial advice fully knowing we were still in a “support contract” with another company and I must say we haven't looked back, and already we have had a site survey to look at our existing installation and recommendations were made to change some of the AP orientation - again this was based on what the previous supplier had installed and told us to do! which even Ruckus commented was blatantly wrong.

 

So whilst im not glad we had the issue, I am , because it made us realise our Support Contract was worthless and it helped to move to a company that fully supports ruckus

 

Nice one all at @CPLTD

[smithson83]

...we have had a site survey to look at our existing installation and recommendations were made to change some of the AP orientation...

 

Sorry to hijack

@jszkudlapski what do you mean by orientation, all ours are ceiling mounted in the middle of the room, they seem to provide the same coverage 360' on all three axis (if you don't count the concrete reinforced floors ...

Edited December 15, 2014 by smithson83

[Asgard]

Sorry to hijack

@jszkudlapski what do you mean by orientation, all ours are ceiling mounted in the middle of the room, they seem to provide the same coverage 360' on all three axis (if you don't count the concrete reinforced floors ...

 

Hi, some (10 out of 57APs) wall mounted...... and because we have a lot of AP's we haven't noticed, but Ruckus have said its bad practice - again we took the supplier at their word and they still maintain that they can be wall mounted no problem, but Ruckus said for maximum performance ceeling mount them

[Net-Ctrl]

As @jszkudlapski said the best practise is to have the APs ceiling mounted especially with the 7363 /7343 APs due to their single polarization. The new R range and 7373/7982 APs are dual polarized – the AP will flip the signal polarity to match that of the clients, resulting in greater signal. So, you can get away with having them wall mounted a little bit more.

 

However ceiling height should be taken into consideration as well – I this ceiling is too high the signal will be poor (i.e ~60ft etc…)

 

Wall mount is best practise for high dense large areas… i.e 10 plus APs in a hall should be mounted lower so people cause attenuation on the signal… better yet have the APs mounted on the external walls of the room needing the signal.

 

The recommendation for ceiling mount comes from the AP’s antenna alignments as increased signal propagation comes from the sides of the AP and not the front / back however with that said if the AP is to cover a signal or two rooms a wall mount (if no other option is available) is not going to cause serious/ if any issue at all.

 

There is also the option to wall mount an AP horizontally, which is a good option if cabling/celing restrictions come into play.

[Brimstone]

Recently we have received calls for help from Ruckus customers who did not purchase their equipment from Net-Ctrl. It appears in many cases that their reseller may have incorrectly sold the solution, didn’t undertake an accurate survey, or poorly installed the equipment.

 

The rise in popularity with Ruckus in education has resulted in a large number of resellers adding the solution to their portfolio, without fully knowing how to support, install or sell it.

 

What we would always advise, with any company is checking their credentials (I’m sure this would come as second nature anyway):

 

• How many engineers do they have to support you?

• Can they provide wireless site surveys?

• How long have they supplied the solution?

• How many Ruckus customers do they have?

• What partner level are they?

• How long has the partner been in business?

 

Both Net-Ctrl and @CPLTD, who operate on this forum, are top tier Ruckus partners, which isn’t an easy feat to achieve. We’re two of only a very select few in the UK.

 

What this means is that we will have access to the best price possible, but it also means that Ruckus recognise that we have a number of engineers to support you, that we have supplied the product for a great number of year, have a large number of customers using the solution and have passed all their relevant tests and accreditations.

 

So make sure you cause a Ruckus the right way, so you can bask in the glory of having awesome, problem free, WiFi!

 

 

Sounds the same as all though iPad resellers that don't have a clue either.....

[Asgard]

I think it mainly stemmed from our 2009 installation using the 11n 7962 (Dome APs) which we started to replace as soon as they went EOL

 

We now have about 30 of the 3x3 ZF 7982 and the rest being (I think) 7372

 

But as I say we had no reason to doubt the 'experts' until we found out what we did and forcibly broke our support Contract - Ruckus were about to intervene on our behalf ;-)

[Edu-IT]

As @jszkudlapski said the best practise is to have the APs ceiling mounted especially with the 7363 /7343 APs due to their single polarization. The new R range and 7373/7982 APs are dual polarized – the AP will flip the signal polarity to match that of the clients, resulting in greater signal. So, you can get away with having them wall mounted a little bit more.

 

However ceiling height should be taken into consideration as well – I this ceiling is too high the signal will be poor (i.e ~60ft etc…)

 

Wall mount is best practise for high dense large areas… i.e 10 plus APs in a hall should be mounted lower so people cause attenuation on the signal… better yet have the APs mounted on the external walls of the room needing the signal.

 

The recommendation for ceiling mount comes from the AP’s antenna alignments as increased signal propagation comes from the sides of the AP and not the front / back however with that said if the AP is to cover a signal or two rooms a wall mount (if no other option is available) is not going to cause serious/ if any issue at all.

 

There is also the option to wall mount an AP horizontally, which is a good option if cabling/celing restrictions come into play.

That's interesting to hear. Ours are all mounted like this with one side facing a wall. That not good?

 

http://www.wlanmall.com/media/catalog/product/cache/1/image/900x/9df78eab33525d08d6e5fb8d27136e95/9/0/902-0157-0000_2.jpeg

[Net-Ctrl]

That's interesting to hear. Ours are all mounted like this with one side facing a wall. That not good?

 

http://www.wlanmall.com/media/catalog/product/cache/1/image/900x/9df78eab33525d08d6e5fb8d27136e95/9/0/902-0157-0000_2.jpeg

 

Hi @Edu-IT that's the preferred method if you're going to wall hang them, even with the older dome APs

 

So that should be fine.