Ruckus Wireless

[Domino]

I know they presented at the conference, but I just thought I'd throw in my two cents, as we had a presentation last night, and have put in some of the gear on a two-week evaluation.

 

It's fookin fantastic.

 

Simple (i mean SIMPLE) config, auto AP detection, the aerials are amazing, the zone director works fast and effectivly and it has all kinds of whizzy features.

 

I'm currently playing with meshing and bridging and I've yet to find a problem.

 

and the price.....brilliant. half the price of a similar bluesocket or aruba system, and with a far better aerial system.

 

I'll post back when we've had class fulls using it, but I forsee no issues.

 

Anyone nearby who wants to come have a nose at it, drop me a line.

[john]

Excellent, glad that your liking it, I am just awaiting the nod from Finance that we have some pennies and then we will be getting it as well, very impressed by the stuff, been talking to them for a while about it now and pointed them here and glad if your enjoying it as I guess you will be looking (fingers crossed for you) at buying it

[Domino]

Yeah, I'm poking the bursar with a stick as we speak.

 

Just has a class of 32 all on the web of one access point, bliss!

[stevenlong1985]

Hi all

 

18th June my school is getting a 7 day trial with Ruckus wireless

their lending me 4 APs (2 x Ruckus ZoneFlex 802.11g and 2x Ruckus ZoneFlex 802.11N) and a Ruckus ZoneDirector Controller

 

If You want a trial let me know i'll pass on the details

 

I'll let you know how i'll get on!

 

Steve

[ahuxham]

To be honest, the whole system looks fantastic. The overview of tutorials and demonstration videos on the website are superb.

 

Suppose I have a question to ask. The AP's state they support 802.1e (VLAN) switching. Is this applied at "Director" or "AP" level?

 

Over summer holidays, my primary task or focus will be installation, configuration of Mcafee NAC. Enforcement via VLAN switching (switch side) to a remediation portal. Problem comes with the route. IT > BACKBONE > ROUTE > BOARDING HOUSE > AP.

 

User has a non-compliant machine accessing network through the AP. The only logical route for NAC would to switch the AP to the remediation VLAN. Problem as it turns the whole house off.

 

(That is until Mcafee + Windows Server 2008 NAP comes into affect, and the enforcement can be user-sided.

[actech]

Yeah, I'm poking the bursar with a stick as we speak.

 

Just has a class of 32 all on the web of one access point, bliss!

 

We're getting a Ruckus system installed sometime in the next month. Zone Director + 3 AP's for now. I'm interested how it would go with a complete lab of computers running Bandwidth intensive apps like Autocad? I am also installing a new lab of HP 7800's later this year and thought that wireless might be a better way to go than cabled. Is this a waste of time or not a bad idea?

[stevenlong1985]

Hey all,

Today Chrismas came very early, just before the end of the day I got a delivery of a Ruckus Demo kit ( the demo kit was ment to be send to the engineer whos ment to come over and show us the demo kit etc but anyhow he send it to me so now I have got it a few days early)

 

I got 4 of the Zoneflex N range ones (7942 or the 2942 cant remember which one )and 2 of the G range 2925 and the ZoneDirector™ 1000 :D

 

 

I will let you know how i get on!

[john]

Good stuff, just planning a demo kit time for us at present, keep us informed

[Domino]

@actech: I'd say it'd be possible, but obviously worth testing though.

 

that said I'd only wanna try it on a ruckus system, pretty much any other i've tried would have fallen over with what we've been doing with it.

 

@ahuxham: i don't really know as far as vlan's go. I could get someone to contact you from if you like. pm me

 

 

General update: Its still awesome.

 

We're running a three week enterprise project with the whole of year nine on EeePC's and wireless - thanks to the ruckus gear it no longer fills me with dread

[john]

Sounds like your giving it a great work out for Mark and crew

[stevenlong1985]

Hey all

Well Ruckus Wireless where do I start?

4APs -2x 2942 and 2x 7942 I got it wrong in my earlier post,

took me about 10min to configure the Network controller,

then it was acase of install each 4 AP units to a network port and a mains, (We dont have PoE in school - I will soon) took like 5 to 10mins not even that if you not including the unpacking time, running around and getting stopped by staff.

 

minor issues with the zoneflex 2942 both kept disconnecting with the network every 10mins they simply needed a firmware update. that was easy too

 

signal range was Far better than the D-link wireless survey we had Tempus are saying we need 16 AP with D-link one in each other class room, Ruckus Could easly cover more rooms and still provide a higher signal.

 

originally I was looking at 6 AP for the school now im thinking 8 would be the best for a complete site coverage of the school. Could be 9 if the school office wanted cover.

 

monday all the staff are coming in with their laptops, the Dynamic pre-shared key should be easy fingers crossed will let you all know monday.

 

 

Night night all

[contink]

Well, I wish I'd heard about this before I'd ordered in and installed all the netgear stuff but for all that it seems to be working ok so far...

 

Ah well... next time..

[stevenlong1985]

what are netgear like? Im being offer that too at the mo half the price of bluesocket?

[contink]

what are netgear like? Im being offer that too at the mo half the price of bluesocket?

 

At the moment I'm not getting the time to sit down, do the reading, testing and put them through their paces properly but I'll hopefully have had a chance in the next 10 days.

[john]

You will find the Ruckus to be a cheaper solution by far to the Bluesocket . Its got Bluesocket features for nearer the Netgear price but in most cases people find it less than the Netgear stuff as well! and not just by a couple of quid!

[greatone]

I am certainly interested in a Ruckus demo.

 

I have a Netgear reseller in this week, still sorting out a date with Extricom and looking for any other possibilities.

 

Are people here dealing direct with Ruckus or is there a truste reseller?

[Dos_Box]

I am certainly interested in a Ruckus demo.

 

I have a Netgear reseller in this week, still sorting out a date with Extricom and looking for any other possibilities.

 

Are people here dealing direct with Ruckus or is there a truste reseller?

 

These guys : Net-Ctrl - Specialists in Internet Security and Connectivity

[stevenlong1985]

Speak to a guy called 'Mark Power' at Net-Ctrl i'm dealing with him he is sound any questions hes the guy to go to

[stevenlong1985]

Okay... right here I go..

 

 

Is it worth Future Proofing the schools WIFI with wireless N? or do I stick to getting G? If I go for wireless N its only gonna cost the school around 5k to 6k for 9 AP plus controller. I know we at the school wont be taking full advantage of wireless N yet but you never know with technology.

 

If i get wireless G how long would that last? before I would have to upgrade?

 

we are a primary school, 3 form school with about 600 Students and staff

 

Not sure what to do?

 

steve

[john]

I'm going to go B/G still, I do believe that the N stuff will just need Firmware flash to bring it to ratified status but as the N standard isnt there yet I'm not risking it. I do have faith in Ruckus and Net Ctrl saying thats all it will take but its a risk i'm not happy with just yet.

[stevenlong1985]

Going for the wireless N option, its only gonna cost us 6k in all

even if we dont use the N wireless and still use G wireless the 7942AP have a 1Gigabit Netowrk connection which will give us the extra bandwith, that should sort out the need to stagger the amount of users to login at the same time.

[john]

Okai, thread digging up here, I've had my trial of the kit, thanks to Mark and crew at Net Ctrl for that, and WOW was I amazed at it in the flesh in terms of its power in my buildings.

 

Buildings dating back 3-400 years in some cases as well as modern ones, and cardboard pre-fabs, and the power of the APs was just amazing, I knew it was good but not that good. I can cover 2 floors (and even near enough acceptable into the 3rd floor!!) of a building completely with 3 APs which I couldnt even managed to cover the ground floor with 3 APs before thats the sheer power of the Ruckus kit.

 

Mark has sent me over this PDF (attached) which he said I could repost here. Its an independent review of the kit.

 

I'll add my two penneth into the review where they flag up about the zero IT Activation not working with there demo card, I tried it with 3Com, D-Link, Netgear, Broadcom, Intel, Asus and Buffalo cards (obviously not every model but just ones I had on hand and in laptops) and all the ones I tried from those makers were fine, the Asus was a bit slow at roaming but a driver update fixed that, my Intel in my HP Laptop was brilliant, and my HP Voice Messenger Phone just roamed perfectly without issues or dropping the connection at all, VERY VERY IMPRESSED!!!

 

If you are thinking that I am just doing it as im being paid to or something, I assure you I am not and Mark will confirm this, but after so many claims in the past of range from built in aerials from other makes such as Buffalo's super G Technology at the time etc this is a breath of fresh air, it does exactly as it says on the tin, and Mark and his team at Net Ctrl are amazing as well. I had a blonde moment during my trial and spoke to the guys at Net Ctrl and they helped me through my blonde moment and made me realise where I had gone wrong and sorted it (was not a ruckus fault was my configuration of my switch stupid me!) So they are very much worth talking to about the kit, and if you are skeptical of the claims that myself and other members here are making after our trials and use of it, pick up the dog and bone and call them and arrange a trial of the kit for yourself in your own school, its no-obligation and I am very sure you will be as pleased as the rest of us have been. The best smiles come when you present the figures for the Ruckus kit to your Bursar as A you need less APs compaired to the other kit and B its cheaper!

 

Anyway any questions fire away or give Mark a call - 01473 281211 (don't forget to say you saw it here on Edugeek )

SC Magazine 01-08-08.pdf

[iatkinson]

We've just put Ruckus kit in after purposefully steering clear of wireless previously and both the coverage and speed of the kit is exceptional. Just a shame my boss had me crawling in the roof spaces to install the AP's.