Thanks to Net-Ctrl - Ruckus Wireless

[ticker]

Well after purchasing the Ruckus wireless system way back in April from Mark at Net Ctrl we final got around to installing it over summer. After using it for the last 3-4 weeks I have got to say I am very impressed with it, it just works all the W/L laptops connect no problem we have had class of 30 laptop connecting no problem and the staff are loving being able to roam all over school with their laptop. PE is especially happy as we have full coverage of the sports hall and Gym and even all the way on the sports field and tennis courts for lesson registration. Edited September 25, 2009 by ticker

[MarkPower]

Glad you are happy with it and it performs as promised, as always anything you need or any questions you may have we are always here and happy to help.

 

Cheers for now

 

Mark

[KWestos]

Hi Ticker

 

We are looking at replacing our current wireless setup, a Zyxel blanket coverage (purchased last year at a great expense) but absolutely pants. Please could you give me some indication as to how much we are talking about and what are the limitations, if any.

 

Many thanks

[ticker]

it was around about 15k thou at the time Ruckus did have some offers on so we saved a bit a money on the access points. Your best speaking to Mark who has posted in here as well as it was his company that supplied us with all of the kit. At the moment i haven't come across any limitations with the system. its mainly just been setting up the settings to get the best out of it.

I am not sure where in the UK you are but if your near Preston you are more than welcome to come visit and have a look.

[stevenlong1985]

Hey, Just thought I'd show you how good Ruckus Wireless, Special Thanks to Mark Power, for providing me with this truly amazing Wireless Kit!!!!

 

 

Picture is a screen shot of 125 users on the wireless :D

[john]

Sounding like its working well at your place Its on my list for the next 2 years where I am now, as I do miss my Ruckus from where I used to work, 3Com, Netgear and D-Link mish-mash is just pants compared to the Ruckus Power I bet my quote's been the longest Mark has had open and keeps updating for me for our management, but I know I will get the order placed as soon as I have the capital for it and Mark knows that, they couldn't be more helpful for us him and Aggy and Stu are the most helpful guys I've ever dealt with

[Jose]

we recently purchased some Ruckus kit from Aggy at Net Ctrl and we are very happy with it.

We had a problem in one corridor of the school that even with 3 wg302 points in them would not maintain a good wireless connection. We replaced the 3 wg302 with two 2942 ruckus points and everything in that area now works fine.

I can't wait untill we can do the English corridor as well

[SimpleSi]

Well - I'm not so happy

 

Bought a 6 AP/controller Ruckus for one of my schools and I've set up 15 NC10's to access it - all seemed OK until I got a call from the ICT Co-ord saying the class couldn't save their work to the server

 

I went in and after much prodding I managed to provoke them into doing the same for me

 

Now since the server is a Linux NAS type box I decided to give the Ruckus a fair chance and setup a W2k3 server as well.

 

Disable the wireless security as well.

 

All afternoon everything worked fine until about 4:30 when 6 laptops decided they couldn't see the server any more so I tried accessing my W2k3 box instead and that wasn't accessible either.

 

The school say they've never had a problem with the fixed LAN machines.

 

Not a happy bunny

 

It still could be something on the network but ...

 

I'll have to go back next week and see if there are any upgrades available to the NC10's/Ruckus

 

regards

Simon

[MarkPower]

Well - I'm not so happy

 

Bought a 6 AP/controller Ruckus for one of my schools and I've set up 15 NC10's to access it - all seemed OK until I got a call from the ICT Co-ord saying the class couldn't save their work to the server

 

I went in and after much prodding I managed to provoke them into doing the same for me

 

Now since the server is a Linux NAS type box I decided to give the Ruckus a fair chance and setup a W2k3 server as well.

 

Disable the wireless security as well.

 

All afternoon everything worked fine until about 4:30 when 6 laptops decided they couldn't see the server any more so I tried accessing my W2k3 box instead and that wasn't accessible either.

 

The school say they've never had a problem with the fixed LAN machines.

 

Not a happy bunny

 

It still could be something on the network but ...

 

Mark

 

I'll have to go back next week and see if there are any upgrades available to the NC10's/Ruckus

 

regards

Simon

Hi Simon

 

As per the PM please contact our support team via the details provided or call on 01473 281211 on Monday we will be able to work on resolving this with you.

 

Cheers

[Jose]

Well - I'm not so happy

 

Bought a 6 AP/controller Ruckus for one of my schools and I've set up 15 NC10's to access it - all seemed OK until I got a call from the ICT Co-ord saying the class couldn't save their work to the server

 

I went in and after much prodding I managed to provoke them into doing the same for me

 

Now since the server is a Linux NAS type box I decided to give the Ruckus a fair chance and setup a W2k3 server as well.

 

Disable the wireless security as well.

 

All afternoon everything worked fine until about 4:30 when 6 laptops decided they couldn't see the server any more so I tried accessing my W2k3 box instead and that wasn't accessible either.

 

The school say they've never had a problem with the fixed LAN machines.

 

Not a happy bunny

 

It still could be something on the network but ...

 

I'll have to go back next week and see if there are any upgrades available to the NC10's/Ruckus

 

regards

Simon

 

what switches are the ruckus points going into, some netgear poe switches need the latest firmware to support roaming clients.

 

try and do a network repair on when of the laptops it should renew its ip address if the repair fails then reboot the switches and try the repair again if it works then its the switches that are causing the issue

[alan-d]

Well - I'm not so happy

 

Bought a 6 AP/controller Ruckus for one of my schools and I've set up 15 NC10's to access it - all seemed OK until I got a call from the ICT Co-ord saying the class couldn't save their work to the server

 

I went in and after much prodding I managed to provoke them into doing the same for me

 

Now since the server is a Linux NAS type box I decided to give the Ruckus a fair chance and setup a W2k3 server as well.

 

Disable the wireless security as well.

 

All afternoon everything worked fine until about 4:30 when 6 laptops decided they couldn't see the server any more so I tried accessing my W2k3 box instead and that wasn't accessible either.

 

The school say they've never had a problem with the fixed LAN machines.

 

Not a happy bunny

 

It still could be something on the network but ...

 

I'll have to go back next week and see if there are any upgrades available to the NC10's/Ruckus

 

regards

Simon

 

We are having the same problems here - not a happy bunny at all . Support has been on the case for a week and still no resolution

[SimpleSi]

Are you using NC10s as well?

 

regards

 

Simon

[alan-d]

Are you using NC10s as well?

 

regards

 

Simon

 

No just ordinary laptops. Various models from HP, Toshiba, Stone & Rock. Around 400 of em!

[White_Fi]

Have you checked the ZD logs at the time of the issue? run a speed test from a client at this time as well?

[alan-d]

See PM.

[alan-d]

@ SimpleSi

 

One problem that seems to be emerging here is that Channel 6 does not work correctly here. The Laptops see the AP but keep losing the connection. Forcing the AP to use another channel seems to fix the problem.

 

We suspected this with our old wireless kit but it is easier to diagnose with the ruckus kit.

 

It may be worth a look on your network. It may not be the the end of our problems, as we are still testing etc but early findings seem to suggest this.

[White_Fi]

Not that it does not work correctly more that it is too dense or flooded if you like to get multiple reliable connections on the same frequency.

 

The spectrum analyzer will tell us more when it arrives.

 

The only way to avoid mass interference is to use another channel or take a hammer to the root cause.

 

Thanks

Stu

[john]

You don't have any cordless phones, cordless alarms or microwaves, science equipment etc that may emit frequency's on that level or Georgian Wired glass in doors / windows that all causes wifi issues.

[alan-d]

Not that it does not work correctly more that it is too dense or flooded if you like to get multiple reliable connections on the same frequency.

 

The spectrum analyzer will tell us more when it arrives.

 

The only way to avoid mass interference is to use another channel or take a hammer to the root cause.

 

Thanks

Stu

 

 

I know what I meant

 

The only thing that may cause it is the PIRs but that's a long shot which ruckus should be able to handle.

 

It would be useful if we could tell ruckus to ignore or switch off certain channels when in auto mode though. It looks like we may have to manually configure the channels now

 

Still testing though, so just speculation at the moment.

[mac_shinobi]

I know what I meant

 

The only thing that may cause it is the PIRs but that's a long shot which ruckus should be able to handle.

 

It would be useful if we could tell ruckus to ignore or switch off certain channels when in auto mode though. It looks like we may have to manually configure the channels now

 

Still testing though, so just speculation at the moment.

 

not sure how firmware is done on ruckus equipment but assuming your ruckus has the latest firmware versions on them ?

 

Guess thats what you call "Hammering the root cause" ?

[ticker]

We have three sets of W/L laptops in school two are Dell and the thrid is HP of which i had nothing but problems connecting to the Ruckus W/L using experience gained in another school with the joys of W/L networks i put on all the lastest Windows updates, the lastest W/L drivers for the laptops and finally static IP addressed all the HP laptops as well as updating the Ruckus W/L to the lastest firmware. This now seems to have addressed the issue and i have had no problems since.

[ticker]

The laptops with the issue were in the Science dept but nothing indicated any interference, its very handy having the Zone Director to monitor what is happening, and narrowing down potenial issues with W/L.

[SimpleSi]

and finally static IP addressed all the HP laptops

 

Even me (the champion of Win98) wouldn't want to go back to static IPs

 

I've got a support call into Net-Ctrl and they are going to have someone available on Thurs pm when I'm back in the school.

 

regards

Simon

[SimpleSi]

Support have led me down upgrading the software to 8.1 (it was several versions behind!) and they said that some clients have difficulty when an AP decides to do a scan to see what's around.

 

So we;ll seee what happens - but since other have no doubt already done this - i doubt its the cure for all ills

 

regards

 

Simon

[featured_spectre]

We found that our Linux NAS box didnt work well with Ruckus, until we routed the NAS box to be a "silent" drive on the machine. Essentially mapping the drive on the server, then remapping that for the kids. Worked a charm for us.