The demands on the Wi-Fi network have never been greater. Users are constantly downloading data, accessing applications, and using voice and video conferencing on their mobile devices. If the wireless LAN isn’t up to the job, the user experience suffers.
Organizations can relieve Wi-Fi bottlenecks by upgrading to the latest 802.11ac Wave 2 technology, which has a maximum speed of 6.93Gbps. However, upgrading the wireless network can be complex and expensive, and cabling is often the challenge. The existing cabling in many environments was not designed to deliver the kind of throughput that 802.11ac Wave 2 is capable of.
Wait, you might say — it’s wireless. What does cabling have to do with it? Well, all of those wireless access points (APs) have to be connected to the wired network to facilitate communication between mobile devices, in-house applications and the Internet. It actually takes a lot of cabling to support a wireless LAN.
With older Wi-Fi technologies, cabling didn’t matter that much. However, the Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA) recommends Category 6A cabling at minimum and ideally optical fiber to optimize the performance of 802.11ac Wave 2 solutions. Organizations implementing the latest 802.11ac Wave 2 technology often have to rip and replace their network cabling infrastructure.
Ruckus is addressing this challenge with its ICX 7150 Z-Series switch and R720 access point (AP). Together, these innovative solutions from Ruckus deliver multi-gigabit 802.11ac Wave 2 capabilities over existing Cat 5E cabling, substantially reducing costs and installation time.
Ruckus packed both products with features that maximize network access performance:
- The Ruckus ICX 7150 Z-Series Switchis a full-featured Layer 3-capable 48-port switch with 16 2.5GbE ports and 32 10/100/1000 ports. It includes dual hot-swappable power supplies and fans and is stackable with other switches in the ICX 7150 family. Eight 10GbE uplink/stacking ports provide twice the stacking and uplink bandwidth of previous ICX 7150 models.
- The Ruckus R720 AP is a 4x4:4 dual-band 802.11ac Wave 2 AP with one 10/100/1000 and one 2.5GbE port. Featuring patented BeamFlex+ and ChannelFly technologies, the R720 is capable of 160MHz and 80+80MHz channelization and is designed for use in high-density indoor applications.
Ruckus’ Cloudpath Enrollment System software is a security and policy management platform that enables organizations to easily establish secure, policy-based access for all wired and wireless devices. Cloudpath is infrastructure-agnostic, allowing organizations to apply a single unified approach to device security and policy, regardless of client OS or underlying networking infrastructure.
The new products are part of Ruckus’ broad portfolio of wired and wireless networking solutions for public- and private-sector organizations of all sizes. Ruckus offers a complete line of high-performance access infrastructure designed to optimize the end-user experience, simplify network setup and management, and help organizations deliver great experiences for their employees, guests and customers.
Wi-Fi network traffic is spiking due to increased device density and bandwidth-intensive applications. Many organizations are looking to upgrade their wireless LANs, but often face the high cost and headaches of installing new network cabling. Ruckus has developed new products that deliver unmatched performance, scalability, manageability and value while minimizing deployment time and expense. Contact Verteks to learn more.
