Net-Ctrl

@Primus - out of interest, what model of Ubiq switches did you opt for at your edge?

Hello, Just to respond to your questions below: - I understand that, for the number of APs we wish to manage, we need to get the Ruckus Virtual SmartZone VM. What rough price should we be paying for this? The list price for the vSZ is around the £800 mark - however, you should expect a heavy discount on this price. Ruckus is currently incentivising existing clients to upgrade to their vSZ solution so make sure you're working with your reseller on this. There are some great discounts available. The vSZ has some great features and is where they're putting a lot of their R&D. - On top of the VM, is it correct that each AP needs a licence to connect to the SmartZone VM? Correct - your virtual SmartZone instance comes with 1 AP license - you then match your AP deployment with the additional licenses required. Again - expect very good discounts. - On top of the VM, and the licence, we are recommended 'WatchDog' support, per AP, per year. Is this support useful / necessary? WatchDog support, is now known as Associate Support - this is required on the initial purchase - this requires the reseller you're buying through to provide level 1 and 2 support, and then escalate to Ruckus on your behalf. This also covers HW faults as mentioned through their RMA scheme and access to firmware. Please note - you should be asking the reseller what support mechanisms they have in place - how many engineers - how long have they been using Ruckus etc - This partner will be your first line of support and you need to ensure they know what they're talking about. As most things it's cheaper to commit to a 3 or 5 year term however, whilst recommended to be renewed, does not need to be. If you have any other questions, please let me know and I will try to assist.

If you're open to considering other manufacturers we have a lot of clients very happy with the Ruckus ICX switch family - previously Brocade campus portfolio which goes all the way back to Foundry Networks. They come with NBD replacement should parts fail. There's a number of promotions running at the moment as well. Also, if you're looking for co-management you can manage the switches and Ruckus WiFi together on the same management platform - some clients are even managing their switch deployment only with the Ruckus management console for easier day-to-day management.

Ruckus ICX has a variety of options with fanless mode for silent operation. If would like some pricing please send me a PM and I will ask one of the team to look into this for you. In addition, all their switches come with lifetime NBD replacement should anything go wrong.

Good Morning, A reminder that until the end of the year there are some great promotions across on the Ruckus wired/wireless portfolio. Take advantage of their ICX switch range that comes with a lifetime warranty that provides Next-Business Day replacement should the unit fail, or their extensive internal and external AC or AX AP portfolios. We will support you every step of the way.

Good Morning all, Just a reminder that this is still running - we do have some availability over the October half term - so if you're in need of a wireless survey to assess your current deployment or to begin to put a plan in place for a new one. Please send me a PM. Thanks, Josh

If you have some site plans available we can perform a free site survey and put forward a Ruckus proposal. There are some great promotions running at the moment. We will work with you to understand what you're trying to achieve and design a solution that will meet what you need for now, and for the years to come. You could also manage both sites, and any others that may come online from one place - this also allows you to add Ruckus ICX switches as well for monitoring, management and configuration.

Hello all, As we turn into the final quarter of the year there are a number of discounts available across the Ruckus wired and wireless portfolios. If you are looking to replace an ageing system, looking to add a few APs to an existing network or just wanting to find out what your options would be, please send me a PM and we will get back to you as soon as possible. All current promotions require shipment to be before the 13th of December. In addition, we also still have our on-site survey promotion running to the end of the year. More info on another thread: http://www.edugeek.net/forums/wireless-networks/209555-site-wireless-surveys-discounted-rate-295-limited-time-offer.html Many thanks, Josh

The purchase would be outright. Unless you opted to go down a lease/finance route. You get lifetime warranty on all off their switches. You do have the option to go above and beyond the warranty with 8x5, or 24x7 technical support - this is included for the first 90 days of purchase.

Over the last 12 months, we have seen a lot of interest in the Ruckus ICX switch portfolio. If you are planning a networking upgrade they’re well worth a look. One of the key takeaways clients have liked is their lifetime warranty that provides Next-Business Day replacement should the unit fail. You also get software and maintenance patches included. In addition, a lot of schools have liked that they can manage and configure their switches via a SmartZone, even if they don’t have Ruckus Access Points. This allows for easier management and single pane of glass approach to their networking management. We really like their licensing feature that allows you to buy a solution that suits you now with the opportunity to upgrade your uplink ports. Their pricing is extremely competitive in the EDU space. If you would like more information on the ICX portfolio or would like us to look at putting forward a topology proposal please send me a PM. Other benefits include: Simple, scalable stacking Standard Ethernet via SFP+ providing long-distance stacking (up to 10 km) Up to 12 units per stack In Service Software Upgrade (ISSU) for patch updates Hitless failover of management Power & Performance Non-blocking, no over-subscription Multi-Gig 1/2.5/5/10/40/100G Leading power density: PoE/PoE+/uPoE/PoH (95 W) PoE on all ports with one power supply PoE+ available on all ports

As others have said the ZoneDirector 3000 has gone EOL, but will continue to be supported until 2023 and supports up to firmware version 10.2 which support all the latest Aps. Those that have ZoneDirector 3000s - you have a few options depending on what APs you have. If you have the 7363/7372 and budget is tight i'd suggest to stick with what you have. The most logical move is the virtual SmartZone/SmartZone appliance, but these older APs aren't compatible which makes it a more expensive upgrade as you would have to look at upgrading your AP estate as well. Do speak to your Ruckus partner though as there are upgrade promotions available - if you don't have a partner, or happy to speak to another please let me know and we can assist. That being said, even if you want to just let us know what you have and what your options are, please send me a PM. No obligations, just here to help. Ruckus Cloud has had some considerable development on it - it certainly has a use-case but is more expensive than the virtual SmartZone/SmartZone solutions but does mean you don't have to worry about the upkeep etc. Those on the 1100 series - we'd recommend looking at the Unleashed portfolio it now supports up to 50 APs and is a great fit for smaller deployments.

Welcome back to the new school year! We hope the summer treated you well and all of your projects were completed. For a limited time, we are running a discounted rate of £295 (per day), plus expenses, on all on-site surveys booked between now and the end of the year. If you’re experiencing any problems with your wireless solution, concerned with potential blackspots or would like to start preparing for a future wireless upgrade, then please get in touch and take advantage of this offer. If you are considering a potential upgrade the survey requires one of our wireless engineers visiting your site and running a multitude of wireless tests. They will measure for packet loss, maximum throughputs, and signal coverage and signal strength to accurately predict your wireless performance and kit list. This is charged out at a daily rate. Once all the data has been collected, the engineer will draw up your detailed wireless report and live heat maps. We have a lot of client’s approach us with an existing wireless solution that they have invested heavily in, but that isn’t delivering on its promises. You may be experiencing interference, dead spots or connectivity issues to name but a few. We can use our wireless know-how, trained engineers and specialist software to analyse your site and perform and Troubleshooting and Health Check exercise to find the source of and solution for your problems. Please let me know of any questions. If you would like to look at booking a survey please send me a PM.

Thank you for the mention @Norphy. @genesis if you would like us to take a look at your plans and advise further, please send me a PM. On the networking front we have recently completed a number of install with the Ruckus ICX portfolio which is based on the Brocade campus portfolio. We are based in Ipswich with engineers in Redditch and Milton Keynes. We work throughout the UK - if you needed us on site we'd be there. As an organisation, we have been running for 10+ years.

Thank you to all those that came to our table at the conference - we really appreciated you taking the time to stop by. Congratulation also to our chocolate hamper winner, @PikulUpper, hopefully you've been able to enjoy them!! I hope those that were able to attend and listen in found the 802.11ax session interesting. If anyone has any questions about the content that was covered, or about wireless in general, please let me know.

Unfortunately no dogs this time. I tried and failed. I'm with you - i dont think such a thing could exist

One of our partners, FireClass, are running a fire safety event in London on the 20th June, and we would like to extend the invitation to EduGeek users. There is a focus on student accommodation, however, most of what will be discussed is relevant for all environments. If the below is of interest - please can you send me a PM by Friday 31st May - or speak to the team at the Edugeek conference. Fire safety is a critical area of concern for companies providing student accommodation. With thousands of students eating, sleeping and socialising in the accommodation, each residence must meet exacting fire safety standards. Fire detection systems must also satisfy the local fire service and university. Does this all sound familiar to you? Be part of our Fire Safety Event and learn from our professionals how to deal with the different requirements and challenges. Agenda: 9:30am: Arrival & Coffee 10.00am: Keynote Presenters • Viewpoint & Case Study from a large Student Accommodation Supplier - The challenges student accommodation presents • Huw Chandler, Risk Engineering Practice Leader, Willis Towers Watson - Latest legal requirements for student accommodation 11.30am: Coffee 11.45am: Presenters from Johnson Controls • Reducing unwanted false alarms – Latest Fire Detection Technology • Cost saving features – Self testing on all sounders & beacons • Homes of Multiple Occupancy – Tailored Cause & Effect Specification • Integration Access & CCTV - Centralized security management for the real-time monitoring and control of alarms and events across multi-sites 12.45pm: Lunch & Networking 14.00pm: Close of expert day We would like to invite you on a flight on the London Eye. Please indicate if you would like to partake so we can ensure the correct allocation of tickets. The number of spaces are limited, so be quick and book your seat now! Your seminar day includes lunch and drinks. To reserve your space at the event please send me a PM or email [email protected] (and don't forget to let us know if you can join us for a flight on the London Eye!)

Morning all! We're looking forward to the conference and to meet some old and new faces. If the chance to see some of the Net-Ctrl portfolio including Ruckus (wired and wireless), NEXUS (lockdown), CEM (access control) and MOBOTIX (IP-CCTV) wasn't enough of a reason to come and see us we're also running a competition. It's very similar to the one we run at BETT, all you to do is visit the Net-Ctrl stand during the show and enter your details for the prize draw. You can download the entry slip now if you would prefer. There will also be some on the stand. The prize is a rather large hand-selected Hotel Chocolat bundle - A range of 13 items from their chocolate selection. Some would say there's too much chocolate Winner will be drawn and announced at the end of the show.

Morning all! We're looking forward to the conference and to meet some old and new faces. If the chance to see some of the Net-Ctrl portfolio including Ruckus (wired and wireless), NEXUS (lockdown), CEM (access control) and MOBOTIX (IP-CCTV) wasn't enough of a reason to come and see us we're also running a competition. It's very similar to the one we run at BETT, all you to do is visit the Net-Ctrl stand during the show and enter your details for the prize draw. You can download the entry slip now if you would prefer. There will also be some on the stand. The prize is a rather large hand-selected Hotel Chocolat bundle - A range of 13 items from their chocolate selection. Some would say there's too much chocolate Winner will be drawn and announced at the end of the show.

Hello, Posting this on behalf of one of our clients who is looking to sell some of their older Ruckus estate. They have a ZoneDirector 1112, 8 x 7372 and 1 x R500. If this could help anyone out - please send me a PM and I will put you in contact with the client. 7372 - £35.00 R500 - £100.00 1112 ZD - £100.00 If you want the lot you may be able to discuss a better rate with the client.

Main issue will be your client re-auth and not being able to roam between sites. As a cheaper alternative to your R510s it could be worth looking at the R320 AP. Released a few months back, wave 2 11.ac 2x2:2 AP and for sub £200. We have tested it and very impressed with its performance and that would keep your single manufacturer solution.

Hello, If you have plans to refresh your wireless/wired network this summer, please get in touch and we will see how Net-Ctrl may be able to assist. We're a Ruckus partner of 10 years with a lot of experience with wireless/wired projects. We will run FOC predictive surveys and put forward formal proposals of the project being presented. We have some brilliant engineers who will configure your network for you, and support you post-install. In addition, we also have a great cabling and installation team who work up and down the country. We're a top tier Ruckus partner so get access to the best discounts available. We know that budgets are very tight and by getting in touch with us early ahead of your projects gives us more time to carefully plan your project to maximise your investment. In addition to wireless, we can also work on any firewall, filtering, lockdown, access control and cctv projects that you may have. We're always available to help should there be anything that we can do.

With Easter now behind us, we, and i'm sure a lot of you will be looking ahead and planning for the summer. One of the biggest challenges we face is letting our clients, and Edugeek members know everything that we do. With this in mind, I wanted to take this opportunity to reintroduce Net-Ctrl - who we are and what we do. We have been an EduGeek sponsor for 8 years, as an organisation, we have been running for 17 years. We have our own in-house engineering team and experienced projects managers. We have specialised in a number of technology areas - many of you will know us for Ruckus - but we do a lot more than that. For each of the partners below, we have trained engineers and projects guys that can design and configure the solutions. We can install them, cable them and support them. We're a consultative company and if the solution isn't right for your school we will tell you. In most cases below, we're able to arrange for demo units to be sent to you for testing. Our portfolio is split into two categories - Secure Managed Infrastructure and Building Management Solutions. Those listed below are our EDU partners. Secure Managed Infrastructure Partners: Ruckus Networks - Wired and wireless solutions and Cloudpath onboarding solutions. Palo Alto Networks - Next-generation firewall and endpoint protection Fortinet - Firewall solutions iboss - innovative APT defence, web security and mobile security solutions Juniper Networks - Firewall and networking solutions Building Management Solutions CEM - Powerful access control and security management systems with fire detection and intruder integrations MOBOTIX - High-Resolution IP-CCTV camera and video door entry systems Bodet- Bell Systems, class change and PA systems NEXUS - Rapidly deployable, battery powered and RF-based, school lockdown solutions Traka - Intelligent key cabinets and lockers systems Netgenium - IP PoE speakers and lockdown technology Aperio - wireless door handles and lock technology Please do keep us in mind for any potential projects you have in the pipeline.

On initial purchase, you would need a support contract that can be on a 1, 3 or 5-year basis. A 3-year contract, for example, is £235. That supports your deployment whether you have 1 AP or 50 the price stays the same and only need to be purchased once. This support gives you access to firmware updates, support etc. On your first renewal, you can choose not to renew. It will all continue to work you just wouldn't have access to firmware updates etc. In addition, should your deployment grow over 50 - or you later invest in another Ruckus management solution like the SmartZone you can move the APs across.

Ruckus Unleashed is a cost-effective and powerful managed WiFi solution and for a short period of time we're running discounted pricing across the Unleashed portfolio. Ruckus Unleashed provides you with scalability allowing up to 50 APs on the network and 1,000 concurrent clients. Ruckus requires less APs than competitive products meaning less port requirement and cheaper installation costs. The Unleashed APs deliver Ruckus’ patented technologies including; BeamFlex+—Adaptive Antenna Technology. ChannelFly—Machine Learning Auto Channel Selection. SmartMesh—Self-Forming, Self-Healing Mesh. Zero Touch Mesh – Form mesh connections over the air. You get all of this whilst being able to take advantage of the Unleashed controller-less architecture meaning your schools can save on the cost of a controller, whilst still getting super-fast and reliable WiFi. Unleashed Promotion We’re currently offering schools a special discounted rate for the newly released R320 Access Point. This is an indoor 802.11ac wave 2 2x2:2 Access Point. For a limited time, you can get the Ruckus Unleashed R320 (RRP £314.00) for £175.00 per AP. We have been extremely impressed with this AP. It has a concurrent client count of 256. It's Wave 2 AC and is extremely capable to deliver great WiFi. Net-Ctrl Approach to Delivering WiFi Net-Ctrl will take away all the stress of the installation utilising a consultative approach. We will run a free-of-charge predictive survey so you know how many APs your site requires and where they would be located. We are able to cable and hang APs, and provide on-going engineer support for your deployment giving you peace of mind if any issues occur. This pricing is only available for a limited period of time whilst stocks last. If you have any questions, please let me know.

Yes, Netgenium is another solution we can discuss in the lockdown space. It is a more similar installation model to Bodet.