Ruckus Wireless Redefines Enterprise Wireless LAN Price/Performance/Reliability with ZoneFlex Enterprise

Introduces ZoneFlex Enterprise to Cut in Half the Cost of Delivering High-Speed 802.11n Wireless Connectivity to Organizations Needing to Support Thousands of Concurrent Users

SUNNYVALE, CA, March 9, 2009 — Ruckus Wireless™ today expanded its ZoneFlex™ Enterprise Smart Wireless LAN (WLAN) offerings with a series of new products that redefine the economics of delivering reliable, high-performance wireless connectivity to thousands of concurrent users across large enterprise environments.

Extending its award-winning Smart Wi-Fi technology to 802.11n, Ruckus ZoneFlex Enterprise is a family of ultra high-performance Smart WLAN solutions that deliver superior and consistent performance for both legacy Wi-Fi and 802.11n client devices with wire-like reliability. Importantly, the Ruckus unique dynamic beamforming antenna and Automatic Interference Mitigation (AIM) technologies combine to mask the complexity of 802.11n, dramatically simplifying deployment while amplifying its performance and coverage benefits - all at a fraction of the cost of competitive high-end WLAN systems.

“In these economic times, enterprises are looking for practical solutions that let them keep pace with business requirements as budgets shrink,” said Selina Lo, president and CEO of Ruckus Wireless. “For Wi-Fi, it means higher capacity, steadier coverage, more users, less maintenance and doing it all at the lowest possible cost. ZoneFlex Enterprise achieves this, resetting the industry’s price/performance bar for smarter wireless LANs.”

Filling out the ZoneFlex Enterprise family are new products and services that include:

  • The ZoneFlex 7962, the industry’s lowest cost, highest performance dual-band 802.11n access point with Ruckus patented beamforming antenna and automatic interference mitigation technology, deployed as a standalone access point (AP) or in a ZoneDirector-managed WLAN,
  • The ZoneDirector 3500, scalable and ultra easy-to-use Smart WLAN controllers that manage 500 Ruckus ZoneFlex Smart Wi-Fi 802.11a/b/g/n APs at the industry’s lowest cost for a 500 AP WLAN configuration,
  • Ruckus Smart/OS, new application platform software supporting advanced WLAN capabilities for the ZoneDirector such as Smart Mesh Networking and new enhancements including WLAN groups, advanced user access controls, and automatic traffic handling features,
  • Enhanced FlexMaster, a Wi-Fi remote management system for ZoneDirector and ZoneFlex APs (standalone or controller-managed locally) with delegated administration support for enterprises with multiple network managers,
  • Lifetime warranty, intrinsic support for all ZoneFlex indoor hardware products.

“With the boost in bandwidth delivered by 802.11n, Wi-Fi reliability has quickly taken center stage as perhaps the most important issue facing enterprise wireless deployment,” said Paul DeBeasi, senior analyst for The Burton Group. “Advances in RF signal control address this issue by automatically mitigating packet loss, jitter, dropped connections and Wi-Fi instability. The combination of 802.11n bandwidth, RF signal control, and the dropping cost of silicon has created the perfect opportunity for enterprises to begin using Wi-Fi as their primary access method.”

The Best Wi-Fi Performance, Range, Reliability and Support at an Unmatched Price

Comparing the cost of delivering 10 Mbps of consistent wireless bandwidth for every user in a 5000-user organization, the two leading enterprise WLAN systems command a per user price (based on MSRP) of $170 to $250. The Ruckus ZoneFlex Enterprise system cuts this per user cost to under $60, while delivering two to four times the signal range and a 100-300 percent performance improvement.

Among the first ZoneFlex Enterprise users is the Université de Lausanne in Switzerland. The Université de Lausanne is using ZoneFlex Enterprise for a campus-wide 802.11n rollout spanning more than 15 buildings for 15,000 students, teachers and staff.

“Wi-Fi traffic patterns have historically reflected users downloading files and Web pages, but this is changing fast,” said Ha Nguyen, network project leader at the Université de Lausanne in Switzerland. “Wi-Fi traffic now requires consistent performance and wire-like stability. We found the Ruckus ZoneFlex Smart WLAN system to deliver such reliability along with compelling 802.11n price/performance benefits.”

Nguyen further noted that the ZoneFlex lifetime hardware warranty is Ruckus’ crowning complement to its technical support excellence. “Ruckus technical support is one of the most responsive and knowledgeable that I have ever experienced and demonstrates a real commitment to helping customers like us deliver a reliable and high-speed 802.11n solution to our users,” said Nguyen.

The First Affordable Dual-Band 802.11n AP with Dynamic Beamforming

The Ruckus Wireless ZoneFlex 7962 is the first enterprise-class, dual-band 802.11n Smart Wi-Fi AP to combine a unique set of advanced capabilities with unprecedented performance, range and reliability at an unmatched price. These include:

  • An internal dynamic beamforming antenna system with 19 directional antenna elements providing thousands of selectable antenna beams for consistent high performance, extended range and optimal voice, video and data support,
  • Automatic Interference Mitigation (AIM) for ultra-reliable Wi-Fi client and backbone connections,
  • Smart Mesh Networking for flexible, low-cost installations,
  • Standard 802.3af power over Ethernet for dual-band 802.11n for painless migration.

Dynamic Beamforming Antenna System Transforms Wi-Fi into a Reliable Utility

Beamforming is the latest Wi-Fi advance that controls the directionality of Wi-Fi signals to deliver better performance, range and reliability. Dynamic beamforming antenna systems, unique to Ruckus Wireless products, use constant client feedback inherent in the 802.11a/b/g/n protocol to automatically adapt signals to environmental changes thereby providing consistent performance wherever users roam.

The Ruckus beamforming antenna system (BeamFlex™) selects the best signal path on a per packet basis. BeamFlex also uses Automatic Interference Mitigation (AIM) technology to achieve even greater throughput by rejecting interference that degrades performance caused by packet loss and retransmissions.

With BeamFlex, Ruckus 802.11n systems are the only ones to deliver a two- to four-fold increase in signal coverage, improved transmission reliability and better effective throughput. And because dynamic beamforming was designed to reduce or eliminate packet loss, it is uniquely suited to support real-time multimedia applications such as IP-based voice and video.

Smart/OS Simplifies WLAN Deployment

Smart/OS provides a scalable Smart WLAN foundation enabling ultra-simple WLAN deployment, enhanced security and hassle-free integration into existing networks.

Ruckus Smart/OS is an advanced operating system and software application engine that runs on all Ruckus ZoneDirector Smart WLAN controllers. Without any hidden costs, Ruckus Smart/OS includes a single base set of advanced WLAN features such as robust authentication, encryption, rogue AP detection, RF management along with state-of-the-art Wi-Fi breakthroughs not found in any other centrally-managed controller system. These include:

  • advanced security
  • automated RF management controls
  • smart mesh networking
  • sophisticated quality of service
  • simple but robust guest networking

With Ruckus Smart/OS, administrators can now create up to 32 discrete WLANs, map the same WLAN to different VLANs and define WLAN groups that are only broadcast on select APs. In addition, new multi-layer access policies provide granular control over what type of traffic is flowing over the wireless network.

Scalable WLAN Management and Seamless Integration for Large Organizations

Delegated administration within the Ruckus FlexMaster remote Wi-Fi management platform now allows large multi-site organizations to better control their network by creating administrative tiers and associated roles with different privileges. In addition, local IT staff can be assigned to separate management domains. Through FlexMaster’s XML-based application programming interface (API) coupled with SNMP support within Smart/OS, integration with enterprise management frameworks has never been easier.

No More 802.11n Bottlenecks with the ZoneDirector 3500

The ZoneDirector 3500 is the newest member of the Ruckus Smart WLAN line of controllers. The ZoneDirector 3500 is a scalable, easy-to-use Smart WLAN controller that manages up to 500 Ruckus ZoneFlex Smart Wi-Fi 802.11b/g/n access points (APs). Unlike competitive WLAN controllers that sit in the data path to centrally process and forward all traffic, the ZoneDirector family is based on a distributed forwarding architecture that eliminates potential bottlenecks, simplifies management and reduces equipment cost.

Flexible Deployment Options with ZoneFlex Enterprise

ZoneFlex Enterprise is the only WLAN system available today that combines affordable dual-band 802.11n technology with dynamic beamforming and Smart Mesh Networking. This enables corporations to build reliable, high-performance WLANs that support greater client densities and higher throughput at a lower total cost of ownership.

And with the growing popularity of IP-based video conferencing, collaboration and unified communications, ZoneFlex Enterprise is ideal for delivering concurrent IP-based video streaming, data and voice communications within hotels, schools, hospitals and other enterprise environments.

Flexible deployment options let enterprises deploy ZoneFlex dual-band 802.11n APs with or without Ethernet cabling. Smart Mesh Networking automatically forms resilient 5GHz mesh connections between ZoneFlex 7962 APs to provide a high-speed backbone for native 802.11n and/or legacy 802.11a/b/g/n clients.

Pricing and Availability

Available immediately, the Ruckus ZoneFlex 7962 is priced (US list) at $999. Ruckus Smart/OS 8 is a free upgrade to customers with support contracts. The ZoneDirector 3500 is available in the second half of 2009.