Background

Ruckus Wireless Market

According to InStat/MDR, wireless LANs have now usurped Ethernet as the networking option of choice. Wi-Fi is blanketing the globe and quickly becoming the de facto or preferred method of connecting all kinds of computing devices over the last 500 feet. Whether at home, in the office or around public hot spots, reliable Wi-Fi connectivity is expected.

Client devices, from laptops to PDAs – iPhones and Blackberrys, are becoming much more sophisticated in their support of real-time multimedia applications as well as their ability to process more graphic-rich content. Unfortunately, Wi-Fi hasn’t kept pace.

Conventional Wi-Fi was developed primarily as a technology of convenience for “bursty” data applications. As such, it suffers from a variety of problems such as inadequate range, unreliable performance, poor multimedia support, weak signal penetration, and the inability to adapt to constantly changing RF environments.

Despite the attraction of being simple to deploy and easy to use at a relatively low cost, Wi-Fi has become anything but simple and affordable for businesses. Today, organizations that are looking to deploy a robust Wi-Fi system have two choices: costly and cumbersome high-end enterprise solutions or consumer-grade Wi- Fi products that lack the security, management and robust features to support hundreds or thousands of users.

According to the Dell’Oro Group, only 15% of businesses have implemented a managed WLAN system. And a recent study by Forrester Research of over 500 North American medium-sized business found that the majority had no plans yet to roll out a wireless LAN, citing reliability, cost and security as the top issues.

For Wi-Fi to become the ubiquitous utility required to support these new markets and sophisticated applications, it must evolve from a best-effort to a deterministic technology that can deliver reliable performance, extended reach and automatic adaptation to changes in the wireless environment.

Ruckus products are used by carriers and enterprises to address the next phase of wireless connectivity where reliability is critical. Carriers are using Ruckus Smart Wi-Fi systems to distribute standard and high-definition IPTV throughout subscriber homes, to offer next generation multimedia hot spots services and to quickly and economically extend the footprint of their infrastructure.

These markets include hot spots, triple-play services, metro Wi-Fi services, and enterprise wireless LANs. In these markets, Ruckus products are being used around the globe to provide predictable performance and Wi-Fi connectivity.

Enterprise are using Ruckus products and technology to build more robust, adaptive and affordable wireless LAN environments within hotels, hospitals, schools, warehouses, branch offices and other locations where IT resources are sparse but the requirement remains high for a secure and robust Wi-Fi infrastructure.