Ruckus Offers Education Two For One On 802.11n

‘N’ matching programme allows partners to provide schools and universities with cost-effective, high-speed 802.11n wireless coverage

SUNNYVALE, CA, July 13, 2009 – Ruckus Wireless today announced its education ‘N’ matching programme which allows partners to offer educational institutions one free 802.11n access point (AP) for every one purchased – driving down the cost of deployment, and opening up new opportunities for partners.

With ICT becoming an increasingly important part of the National Curriculum, and wireless access an essential on any University or College campus, there are many opportunities for companies that can deliver faster, more reliable and easier to deploy Wireless LAN (WLAN) solutions. Taking advantage of Ruckus’ unique technological advances, partners can effectively target the education market with Wi-Fi solutions that meet their requirements and budgets. In the last year alone, Ruckus gold partner, Net-Ctrl has deployed Ruckus Smart Wi-Fi systems in more than 60 schools within the UK.

“The education sector is a hot one right now as far as Wi-Fi is concerned,” said Jim Calderbank, director of enterprise sales EMEA at Ruckus Wireless. “Most schools in the UK have some sort of wireless system in place already, but these are typically off-the-shelf consumer devices. As usage increases and schools want to stream increasingly sophisticated applications over Wi-Fi – such as video – these systems are failing. And, with university students now demanding to be able to access more than their email from wherever they are and from any Wi-Fi enabled device, this market is largely untapped and potentially lucrative.”

Under the matching donation programme, Ruckus is offering one free Ruckus 802.11n AP (single-band ZoneFlex 7942, dual-band ZoneFlex 7962 or outdoor ZoneFlex 7942-OT models) for every AP purchased. Available until September, the 802.11n matching donation programme is available from Ruckus’s partners and requires at least 20 APs to be purchased and the requisite number of ZoneDirector controllers with three years of Ruckus premium support.

Ruckus is also offering fixed-price bundles that deliver unmatched value with six options from which to choose and with up to 50 percent of the suggested retail price. Smart Wireless LAN bundles provide the latest dual-band 802.11n system with two, ten, 25, 50, 100 or 250 APs.

“Despite the fact that all organisations are tightening their purse strings, the use of mobile devices in schools has increased so much that Wi-Fi is now an integral part of the teaching environment,” said Mark Power, wireless security specialist at Net-Ctrl. “With Ruckus’ competitively priced solutions, we are already in a strong position to target this market, but with initiatives like the matching donation programme, we’re seeing much more interest – this is good news for schools and resellers everywhere.”

Patented by Ruckus Wireless, Smart Wi-Fi is the latest Wi-Fi innovation developed to extend the range and reliability of Wi-Fi. This is achieved through an advanced smart antenna array that automatically forms and directs Wi-Fi signals toward the intended client and away from interference without IT administrators having to do anything. In addition, Smart/OS software integrated into Smart WLAN controllers provides extra value, such as allowing Smart APs to be meshed without Ethernet cabling, further reducing capital and operational expense and easing deployment problems.