Ruckus vs Aruba

[Gongalong]

Hi folks,

 

We're looking at replacing our ZD3050 with zf7982 Ruckus system. We've been quoted for Ruckus Cloud with R650 APs. We also have an Aruba quote coming. Our previous Ruckus system has been rock solid.

 

Do Ruckus still produce rock solid systems, are we better to look at Aruba, or someone else?

 

Thanks

[Aprice]

Generally we fit Aruba IAPs, but we've also fitted a few Ruckus unleashed systems lately and have been impressed.

 

Both just seem to do the job perfectly well, I'd have no concerns with either.

[Gongalong]

Is Ruckus Unleashed a particular product range, the cloud system, or something else?

[Aprice]

Is Ruckus Unleashed a particular product range, the cloud system, or something else?

 

It's comparable to Aruba's instant solution. Essentially licence free with one of the APs acting as a controller.

 

For the non Connect the Classroom projects most of our customers have gone without any of the cloud offerings from Ruckus or Aruba Central as the benefits didn't outweigh the costs for them.

 

With the Ruckus solution we do encourage a support contract as that includes the firmware updates for the APs, Aruba you can just get these of the Aruba website (after logging in with a free account)

Edited May 6, 2023 by Aprice

[slugshead]

Ruckus unleashed is the controllerless flavour, one AP essentially becomes the controller, perfect at home or a small shop type business.

 

I've setup a number of Ruckus systems, ZD, SZ and unleashed.

 

SmartZone replaces ZoneDirector, after changing the view, the console is pretty damn close to ZoneDirector.

 

There's a migration tool built in, as long as you have compatible APs.

 

SZ has two main variants, appliance or virtual, my last school I setup two SmartZone 144 appliances in a cluster with R650 APs replacing ZD3000 and ZF/R600 APs. Current school has virtual smartzone with R730's

 

Everything I've ever touched that's ruckus has been rock solid.

 

The later version (6.0 onwards) of smartzone doesn't support Wave 1 Wifi, but version 5.2.2 does.

 

Another good thing about SZ over ZD, APs are individually licensed, not in blocks of 25 anymore

[Gongalong]

Interesting, no-one has mentioned Unleashed so far. All we've had are quotes for Ruckus Cloud (3, 5, and 7 year options) along with the APs. We'd still want an ongoing hardware warranty and support contract, so not sure how that compares with Ruckus Cloud if we go with on-prem management. (Not sure if Ruckus Cloud includes hardware warranty, but presumably includes support)

 

I'm not convinced we need the cloud option unless there are strong benefits over on-prem, and it's looking like that isn't the case.

[jnfarmer]

We're about to swap out our Aruba Mobility set up with Ruckus cloud, and CloudPath on top. We wanted CloudPath to make use of Azure AD/DPSK. I can't wait!

[Brummytech]

Cloud isnt really importantc unless you are multi site. If its one site instant or Unleashed means you can still be serverless and not need a controller in a rack or installed on a server, obvs cloud just means it can be managed offsite easier - you can normally connect to unleashed via web portal off site if you enable it.

 

I dont think you can go wrong with either and both could be changed to cloud or controller as needs change.

[mavhc]

What scale are we talking about, do you also have switches that will integrate with the APs more seamlessly?

 

Aruba wifi cloud control seemed rather expensive, as they're charging the same for 1 AP as 1 switch

[Net-Ctrl]

Ruckus Cloud is their most expensive Cloud option - it is not something we don't typically recommend for schools just due to the cost. Depending on your AP count, management set-up will decide whether you go with Unleashed/SmartZone.

 

As others have said Unleashed is controller-less, like the Aruba Insant-on approach. It puts management overhead on a Master AP. Up to 150 APs, with a few management limitations. I have a list that I will try to find that lists precisely what.

 

SmartZone comes as either appliance, (SZ144), or virtual instance. The virtual SmartZone is the cheapest management route if you plan to continue to support a virtual environment. It also integrates with Ruckus Analytics, more relevant on networks 100+ APs, for network health monitoring etc. You can also manage switches on the SmatZone platform.

Edited May 9, 2023 by Net-Ctrl

[TechMonkey]

Had a Ruckus system installed over the last year. Rock solid. We had an Aruba system and it wasn't properly installed so I can't really compare like to like, but we have had no issues and found the signal goes further than it did.

 

Having had a ruckus system at a previous place which was totally fire and forget I have to say Ruckus is still my go to.

[MartinT]

Our Ruckus system uses the vSZ virtual controller running in VMware. 110 APs all running well. We've also just introduced BYOD with Ruckus Cloudpath and that's working fine, too.

[Gongalong]

What scale are we talking about, do you also have switches that will integrate with the APs more seamlessly?

Sorry, thought I'd put that in the OP. 30 APs. Unless there's very good reason not to we will be reusing existing locations, because we already have cabs for APs, power, and ethernet. We don't have PoE switches to the APs will need PSUs.

 

I hadn't realised about the non-cloud option for Ruckus, so depends if that saves us some money. I'd still like a support contract and extended hardware warranty, if an option.

[mavhc]

Aruba switches combined with Aruba wifi gives you some interesting extra features, but probably not needed at a 30 AP size

[Gongalong]

Mostly I just wanted to check that Ruckus hardware is still rock solid. The other things I need from a technical perspective are support for VLANS and multiple SSIDs (we direct the SSIDs to specific VLANs), but I'm guessing any vaguely decent APs will support this. I'm not too fussed about cloud configuration, local config is fine.

[Net-Ctrl]

Unleashed can also manage up to 8 switches at a time.

 

ICX switch management allows you to monitor status, view usage statistics, and perform basic management operations including configuration backup and firmware management.

 

The following capabilities are supported:

 

ICX switch registration and authentication

Switch inventory (including model, firmware version, and last backup)

Health and performance monitoring (status, traffic stats, errors, clients) with alarms

Switch configuration file backup and restore

Firmware upgrades

[Net-Ctrl]

If you are interested in Unleashed and open to a competitive bid, please send me a PM and we can put something together for you.

[Davit2005]

There are 2/3 types of Aruba AP to my knowledge.

 

Instant-On, Instant (IAP) and Campus. Unified can either be IAP or Campus depending on what you need where as some older Aruba are Campus only. Instant AP can give some useful info on it's own, yep it is not a single pane of glass like Unifi or similar SDN.

 

I rolled out Ruckus jus over 10 years ago at a previous employment, that replaced an aging Aruba Install with 2 controllers, it was a good experience. I've also worked on HP MSM. And now working with Aruba again with 2000+ Aps with little drama in 7+ years, touches nearest wooden object.

Edited May 9, 2023 by Davit2005