August 04, 2009
Ruckus' ZoneFlex Achieves Best Value for Money in a Competitive WLAN Cost Analysis
By Raju Shanbhag, TMCnet Contributor
In a newly published competitive WLAN cost analysis entitled “The Real Cost of 802.11n in the Enterprise,” Ruckus Wireless has announced that its ZoneFlex 802.11n Smart Wireless LAN system achieved the best value for the money.
The ZoneFlex Enterprise WLAN systems bring power and simplicity together for large-scale enterprise WLAN deployments. It provides benefits such as seamless interoperability, advanced Wi-Fi security, and robust WLAN management. Ruckus ZoneFlex Enterprise solutions combine the best of centrally managed WLANs with advances in intelligent RF routing and Smart Wi-Fi meshing.
The Ruckus ZoneFlex system ranged from $30,000 to $380,000 less than competitive WLAN solutions due to the unique WLAN implementation, which combines patented dynamic beamforming, smart meshing technology, and an "out of the data path" controller architecture. According to Ruckus, the ZoneFlex system required 40 percent fewer access points to provide the same or better coverage.
“Anyone who has spent any serious time trying to understand the pricing structures and feature sets available on all the different wireless vendor products knows that it's gotten absolutely ridiculous," said David Callisch, VP of Marketing at Ruckus Wireless (News - Alert). "Vendors quote low prices yet most require additional software licenses, controllers, gigabit Ethernet adapters, video service modules and wireless control systems. This causes the ultimate price tag (News - Alert) to skyrocket.”
Ruckus Wireless compared the multivendor WLAN price/performance based on publicly available US list pricing and compiled and written in conjunction with a third party. Using products from Aruba Networks (News - Alert), Cisco Systems, HP/Colubris, Meru Networks and Ruckus Wireless the report compares the required infrastructure components and costs for WLAN solutions for two common enterprise 802.11n wireless deployments.
Recently, the company introduced an outdoor dual-band 802.11n and single-band 802.11g Wi-Fi access points with beamforming. This latest offering from Ruckus is expected to overcome problems that have hindered outdoor Wi-Fi deployments, including interference, unanticipated physical obstructions such as foliage, network management complexity and cost. Also, the new Ruckus Smart Wi-Fi outdoor products deliver high-speed dual-band 802.11n technology.
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Raju Shanbhag is a contributing editor for TMCnet. To read more of Raju’s articles, please visit his columnist page.
Edited by Jessica Kostek
