Ruckus MetroFlex NG
High Performance 802.11g Access Gateway and Wi-Fi Router
The Ruckus MetroFlex NG is two products in one. It acts as a wireless access gateway, providing reliable connectivity to outdoor Wi-Fi networks, as well as an extended range indoor 802.11b/g access point.
The Ruckus MetroFlex NG is the world’s first customer premise equipment specifically designed and optimized for broadband operators building large-scale metro Wi-Fi networks.
Patent-pending hardware and software let subscribers connect faster and more reliably to outdoor metro Wi-Fi networks – automatically optimizing around changing environmental conditions. Intelligent connection algorithms determine the fastest Wi-Fi mesh node with which to associate based on the highest data rates and best signal strength.
The Ruckus MetroFlex NG is the only system that provides unprecedented diversity through the use of a unique, dualpolarized antenna array. This provides the largest coverage area possible, the strongest resilience to interference and the highest receive sensitivity.
The Ruckus MetroFlex NG is equipped with integrated smart-MIMO antenna technology developed to reliably communicate with the metro Wi-Fi nodes. Compatible with standard 802.11b/g metro Wi-Fi nodes, the Ruckus MetroFlex NG 802.11b/g wireless access gateway extends the metro Wi- Fi coverage to hard-to-reach indoor locations.
For increased deployment flexibility, the Ruckus MetroFlex also comes equipped with an external RF connection. This provides the ability to deploy a high-gain antenna away from the CPE.
Introducing the Ruckus MetroFlex
The Ruckus MetroFlex NG is the first smart-MIMO Wi-Fi gateway that reliably extends metro Wi-Fi signals indoors. The Ruckus MetroFlex NG is equipped with industry’s first dual-polarized antenna array to optimize communication with metro Wi-Fi nodes. Additionally, an external RF antenna option works in concert with the smart antenna array and Ruckus’ patented expert control software to ensure the best antenna patterns and RF paths are selected for sending and receiving traffic.
The Ruckus MetroFlex NG automatically avoids Wi-Fi interference and mitigates multipath fading by selecting the best signal path to the wireless AP. Traditional Wi-Fi systems are equipped with a single vertically-oriented, omni-directional antenna that becomes less effective when the multipath signal arrives out of phase and cross polarized.
The Ruckus MetroFlex NG integrates patent-pending Ruckus BeamFlex technology that constantly learns the RF environment and automatically adjusts the antenna pattern to steer signals to the optimum path. Just as the other Ruckus products (MediaFlex router and adapter), MetroFlex substantially increases both Wi-Fi performance and range.
The Ruckus MetroFlex NG seamlessly communicates with metro Wi-Fi nodes by automatically associating with the best outdoor node. This built-in intelligence delivers optimum connectivity upon initial association. In the event of changes to the Wi-Fi environment or adjustments to the outdoor metro mesh network (eg. changes to channel assignments), the Ruckus MetroFlex continually rescans the RF domain so the selection of the best outdoor AP is maintained.
Dramatic Increases in Range and Performance
BeamFlex is the first-of-its kind smart antenna technology that works with off-theshelf 802.11 silicon to deliver the most cost effective MIMO benefits to 802.11a/b/g devices today. Each Ruckus MetroFlex NG integrates Ruckus BeamFlex™ technology - a compact, internal antenna array with multiple dual-polarized directional antenna elements capable of combining to form unique antenna patterns for diversity.
BeamFlex expert system control software continuously ranks the antenna patterns for each destination device using the feedback mechanism built into the 802.11 MAC layer protocol. Cognizant of the real time RF conditions, the direction and performance of the communicating devices, network capacity and application types, BeamFlex steers each packet to the optimum signal path, enabling a Wi-Fi device to sustain high transmission speeds and minimize retransmissions. Unlike conventional wireless devices, the Ruckus MetroFlex NG dynamically mitigates interference caused by multipath fading, neighbour networks and other wireless devices.
Simple Installation, Reduced Support Costs
Self-installable, the Ruckus MetroFlex NG utilizes dynamic host configuration protocol (DHCP) for automatic configuration with the metro Wi-Fi network. The Ruckus MetroFlex NG has a simple and intuitive user interface and pr vides a setup wizard to guide the home users to configure the device.
| Receive Sensitivity | |
|---|---|
| 802.11b | |
| 1 Mbps | -99 to -108 dBm |
| 2 Mbps | -96 to -104 dBm |
| 5 Mbps | -91 to -98 dBm |
| 11 Mbps | -90 to -94 dBm |
| 802.11g | |
| 6 Mbps | -93 to -96 dBm |
| 9 Mbps | -90 to -96 dBm |
| 12 Mbps | -90 to -94 dBm |
| 18 Mbps | -88 to -91 dBm |
| 24 Mbps | -85 to -88 dBm |
| 36 Mbps | -82 to -86 dBm |
| 48 Mbps | -78 to -81 dBm |
| 54 Mbps | -76 to -81 dBm |
The Ruckus MetroFlex NG is equipped to be remotely manageable by the metro Wi-Fi service provider’s network management center via HTTP, HTTPS, Telnet and SSH. The Ruckus MetroFlex NG provides extensive statistics to the service provider’s network management center for ease of troubleshooting and monitoring. Multiple clients are supported behind the Ruckus MetroFlex NG in the metro Wi-Fi network. Integrated NUTTCP support allows providers to conduct performance testing directly from the metro node to the MetroFlex NG.
The Ruckus MetroFlex NG is equipped with DHCP server functionality. The MetroFlex supports multiple home PCs by automatically assigning dynamic IP addresses. Network address translation (NAT) is used to give home PCs Internet access. In the event of a broadband connection failure, the MetroFlex NG automatically alerts the user by redirecting them to an status page while continuing to provide local network connectivity.
Metro Hotspot Deployment
The Ruckus MetroFlex NG allows metro ISPs to easily extend wireless coverage while maintaining user identity. This is essential for providers that must authenticate users based on a unique MAC address. Through the use of L2TP tunnelling, traffic from a Ruckus AP is transparently bridged to a centralized data center or NOC, allowing the authentication and billing of individual users (see L2TP Application Note for more details)
