Ruckus Wireless updates ZoneFlex Enterprise range

Ruckus claims to deliver reliable, high-performance wireless connectivity

Networking firm Ruckus Wireless has refreshed its range of ZoneFlex Enterprise Smart Wireless LAN systems to include support for 802.11n Wi-Fi.

The company said that enterprises are increasingly turning to wireless communications rather than installing costly and cumbersome cabling, and are keen to implement 802.11n. But they are holding back owing to high cost and erratic reliability.

The new Ruckus solutions use the company's Intelligent Antennae Array System (IAAS) which combines its beam-forming antenna and Automatic Interference Mitigation technologies to deliver reliable, high-performance wireless connectivity to thousands of concurrent users across large campus environments, according to the company.

"With this antenna system and the software that controls it, we can put it on top of any underlying baseband chipset. It doesn't matter if it's Wi-Fi, WiMax or anything else," said David Callisch, vice president of marketing at Ruckus Wireless.

"Traditional wireless transmissions are sent out in every direction, paying no attention to signal quality. This causes retransmissions which, in turn, causes delay. When you're talking about voice-sensitive traffic like voice communications or video, it just doesn't work very well. Our system is designed to mitigate and enhance reliability."

Beam-forming automatically learns and optimises the direction of Wi-Fi transmissions, thereby selecting the best signal path for every packet. This can provide a signal gain of up to seven decibels isotropic, and rejects and avoids interference of up to -15 decibels, extending Wi-Fi range and coverage between two and four times while improving transmission reliability and effective throughput.

The new Ruckus products begin with the ZoneFlex 7962, a dual-band 802.11n access point which uses the IAAS and can be deployed as a standalone access point or in a ZoneDirector-managed wireless local area network (WLAN).

Next is the ZoneDirector 3500 WLAN controller, which can be used to manage up to 500 Ruckus ZoneFlex Smart Wi-Fi 802.11a/b/g/n access points.

On the software side, the company also announced a new version of its Ruckus Smart/OS 8 application platform software, which can support capabilities such as smart mesh networking and new enhancements including WLAN groups, advanced user access controls and automatic traffic handling features.

Ruckus Smart/OS 8 allows administrators to create up to 32 discrete WLANs, map the same WLAN to different virtual LANs, and define WLAN groups that are broadcast only on selected access points. Furthermore, new multi-layer access policies provide granular control over what type of traffic is flowing over the wireless network.

Ruckus also offers a Wi-Fi remote management system dubbed Enhanced FlexMaster for ZoneDirectors, and standalone or controller-managed ZoneFlex access points with delegated administration support for enterprises with multiple network managers.

The Ruckus ZoneFlex 7962 is available now priced at $999 (£690). The Ruckus ZoneDirector 3500 will be available in the second half of 2009, and pricing is still to be confirmed.

The Ruckus Smart/OS 8 is available now as a free upgrade to customers with premium support contracts. The FlexMaster software is also out now starting at $5,000 (£3,600).