Ruckus Wireless Reviews

I have been using Ruckus Wireless along with WiFi devices and controllers. Our company mainly uses the solution to implement WiFi connectivity in customer environments, which are mostly hospitality sector establishments like premium hotels and other universities.

In our organization, we have witnessed a greater interest in Ruckus products from medium and large enterprises, especially for Ruckus network devices like switches and ports. Some of our organization's customers preferred to adopt cloud solutions from Ruckus because they were not willing to make large investments in a Dual LAN Controller.  

Ruckus Wireless offers excellent WiFi connectivity and a valuable SmartRoam feature. For example, when you roam around a location from one access point to another while connected to a WiFi device, the network remains uninterrupted throughout the roaming phase when Ruckus Wireless is used.  

Ruckus Wireless has a BeamFlex technology that empowers smart roaming. For instance, the product devices have integrated antennas and when a user is connected to one AP and keeps moving around in the same network area, the product ensures that the WiFi coverage remains the same in every area. If you are on a video call using Microsoft Teams and you move from one AP of Ruckus Wireless to another, the call doesn't get interrupted.

Ruckus Wireless incredibly supports IoT integration needs with numerous applications. I would rate Ruckus Wireless a nine out of ten and recommend that others use the solution. Ruckus Wireless is equipped well to handle new trends in WiFi technology.

The vendor should expand their product line and include routers, firewalls and large switches. The vendor should focus on providing a complete solution, as when a professional is designing a network for an organization, the person might need a firewall, security solution, and routing devices, but from Ruckus, the professional is only receiving WiFi solutions. 

I have been using Ruckus Wireless for eight years. 

The product offers impressive stability. 

I would rate the scalability an eight out of ten. In our company, we work with Ruckus Wireless for small, medium and large enterprises. I personally work with large enterprises who are using Ruckus Wireless satisfactorily. 

I would rate the technical support a six out of ten. The response time of the support team needs to improve. The tech support of Cisco is better than Ruckus Wireless in comparison. 

Neutral

I would rate the initial setup an eight out of ten as the solution can be easily deployed. Our company's majority of customers of small and medium businesses prefer to deploy Ruckus Wireless on-prem, but some users, depending on their use cases and geographical location, prefer the cloud version. Any organization with multiple offices in numerous locations would prefer a cloud solution. 

The deployment process of Ruckus Wireless is extremely simple, and for medium-sized enterprises with a hundred APs, the installation can be finished within a week. The deployment duration of the product varies from case to case depending on the environment. 

Ruckus Wireless can provide a satisfying ROI. For a few customers of our organization, Ruckus Wireless was deployed five years ago and is still running seamlessly for them, and the investment cost has already been covered.  

Ruckus Wireless is available at a reasonable price. I would rate the pricing a seven out of ten. 

The solution is used for wireless connectivity. It's excellent for internet access. 

It works well in company or hotel environments to provide WiFi.

Clients have had an excellent experience overall. 

The management is very good.

It provides a very good signal strength.

Stability has been very good. It is reliable. 

It has been issue-free overall. The technology is very good. 

Wherever we have deployed it, we have found it satisfactory.

The interface is user-friendly.

The solution scales well.

Technical support is excellent. 

We've never had issues with importing or exporting data. 

The technology itself is good. They are always improving their technology and cloud environment. They are mostly ahead of the competition. As long as they keep updating, we will be happy.

There are no new features needed.

You do need to pay extra for support after one year.

There's only a small amount of backup available. However, we do not need any more storage for backups. 

When firmware updates, you have to download and update. If the system could directly download and update, that would be much easier. It could be more automated. To update firmware, a partner account is required, and there are very few of us in the market in our region who can help the customer. Without the upgrade, there may not be recognition of access points. If you are behind a few versions, you need to download each old version until you get to the latest. 

I've used the solution for many years. I've likely used it for more than ten years. 

The solution is stable and reliable. There are no bugs or glitches, and it doesn't crash or freeze. There are no latency or performance issues. 

I'd rate the stability ten out of ten. 

I'd rate the scalability ten out of ten. We are using the solution at full capacity. At different sites, there are different numbers of users. This is sued at hotels or companies. One access point can support up to 300 users. You just add a device if you need more users. We haven't had issues with latency or network congestion. 

Our clients are small and medium-sized businesses.

Technical support is good. You can buy extra support. Initially, when you buy it, you have support, and after one year, it will expire. You may not need to buy more support as you can get information online if you need to troubleshoot. 

Positive

I've also worked with Cisco solutions. Cisco is more expensive, and there is less performance. Ruckus offers better quality. 

The initial setup is very easy. I'd rate the ease of setup ten out of ten. The setup process is the best.

It was quick to deploy. The deployment process itself was very short. We imported the IP and licenses. Then we just did the cabling, connected, and configured everything. 

We can help our customers implement the solution. 

The pricing is moderate. It's not as cheap as a few other options; however, compared to the performance you get, it's excellent. I'd rate the value of pricing ten out of ten. In terms of if it is high or low, I'd rate it five out of ten as it's moderate. It's better than Cisco in terms of pricing. Cisco gives you less performance and integration and costs more. 

The license is perpetual. You may need to pay for extra support after a year. However, you do not have to renew the general license. You pay for everything at once in the beginning. 

We are partners. We handle installations for customers. 

I am working with various versions of the solution at this time. 

I'd advise others to use Ruckus. It is a great product. I would rate it ten out of ten. 

I am using Ruckus Wireless for networking. Our company provides an e-commerce platform, which includes a workspace. We have a franchise in Pakistan that enables e-commerce. Currently, we have 70 access points on one floor and 40 on another floor, and we do not anticipate any issues with the network.

We are using the standard model.

We have three networks and a network distribution panel. Ruckus Wireless has benefited us by overseeing our access points, and seamlessly transferring connectivity between the backup systems and the main access points. This management system operates effectively, allowing us to consistently upload and download with a workload of 30/40 Mbps. Our security solutions also require a 30 Mbps connection.

The most valuable feature of Ruckus Wireless is its exceptional performance and reliability. The signal is highly reliable. We have not received a single complaint in the past year, which is a marked improvement from our prior equipment. 

The solution is sensitive with reference to power fluctuations. This sensitivity should be improved. Additionally, the solution should have more security features integrated.

I have been using Ruckus Wireless for approximately one year.

Ruckus Wireless is a reliable and stable solution.

We have a total of 95 users spread across two floors and the Ruckus Wireless system has been managing everything smoothly and efficiently.

The solution is scalable. If you want to expand the network, you only need to add access points.

I have not used the support from Ruckus Wireless.

After conducting a comprehensive market analysis, our team arrived at the conclusion that Ruckus Wireless was the optimal solution for our commercial needs. The level of consistency demonstrated by Ruckus Wireless was unparalleled and thus, we made the decision to transition from our old solution to their offering.

The initial setup of Ruckus Wireless was simple. The deployment didn't take long. Each one took us a day to complete.

When deploying the solution, there were several steps involved. Initially, we faced some delays due to the requirement of certain civil works, such as the installation of network cables, switches, and related equipment. This process took us a longer, approximately a week to complete, but with the help of a highly skilled and professional team of engineers, we were able to manage it effectively. In total, the entire deployment process took approximately two weeks to complete and wasn't too challenging to manage, considering the expertise of our team members.

I rate the initial setup of Ruckus Wireless an eight out of ten.

We have third-party engineers help us with the implementation of the solution. We used one network manager and two assistants from our team. A total of five people were involved in the process.

As a highly qualified individual, the investment in Ruckus Wireless is not only beneficial but also well-justified in terms of its cost. By utilizing this investment, I have been able to significantly reduce my expenses as I no longer need to repeatedly call on an engineer for support. This has been a cost-saving measure for me and I am extremely satisfied with the outcome.

The price of Ruckus Wireless is more expensive than other options.

I rate the price of Ruckus Wireless a six out of ten.

The maintenance of the solution is simple.

My advice to others is the solution is consistent, efficient, and easy to install.

I rate Ruckus Wireless an eight out of ten.

Our clients use Ruckus as a controller base in active-active mode or active-passive mode depending on their needs. We work primarily with universities that have over 30,000 users. 

Ruckus Wireless is reliable. The most valuable features are BeamFlex technology, Wi-Fi 6, and channel management.

I have been providing Ruckus for seven years.

I rate Ruckus six out of 10 for reliability.  Mostly, we face issues with this port.

I give Ruckus nine out of 10 for scalability.

I rate Ruckus support seven out of 10. We have experience in this field, so we don't need vendor support, but my customers say the support is excellent. 

Neutral

I rate Ruckus eight out of 10 for ease of setup. It depends on the size of the deployment, but we can deploy Ruckus for most clients in a day or two. It's straightforward,

I rate Ruckus Wireless seven out of 10. Some customers have issues with the price because it's more expensive than Ubiquiti, but they can accept the cost because it's reliable and has more features.

I rate Ruckus Wireless nine out of 10. I would recommend it.

What I like best about Ruckus Wireless is that it's a controller-based product, so it's easy to configure.

An area for improvement in Ruckus Wireless is automating its guest WiFi access function. Currently, the product requires token generation, so it would be better if there's a portal for the guest to log in and get the password rather than the IT team needing to give passwords to guests.

A minor area for improvement in Ruckus Wireless is its technical support.

I want a built-in RADIUS server on Ruckus Wireless in the next release, as that would add some value to the product.

My company has been using Ruckus Wireless for five years.

Regarding stability, I rate Ruckus Wireless as eight out of ten.

Ruckus Wireless is scalable. Every controller has a limit on the number of APs, and my company's controller can handle one thousand APs. Still, my company only uses two hundred APs, so Ruckus Wireless is a scalable product.

My rating for Ruckus Wireless technical support is eight out of ten. It has a small room for improvement.

Positive

My company purchased Aruba Wireless for a new location based on Gartner recommendations. My company also made a technical comparison and found that Aruba Wireless is the number one product in the world, which is why the company is leaning toward it versus Ruckus Wireless.

Ruckus Wireless has a simple initial setup.

An integrator deployed Ruckus Wireless for my company, but my company is responsible for maintaining the product.

Regarding pricing, Ruckus Wireless is a five out of ten. Though it's cheaper than Aruba Wireless, pricing for Ruckus Wireless, when you look at its functionality, could be more affordable.

My company has Ruckus Wireless switching and AP products.

In the company, about one thousand five hundred people use Ruckus Wireless.

Four network engineers maintain the product within the company.

Ruckus Wireless is a seven on a scale of one to ten.

I'm recommending the product to others.

My company is a Ruckus Wireless customer.

We are an integrator working primarily with government healthcare providers and clients in the education sector. We have multiple deployment modes, including on-premise, direct permission, and layer-to-layer. We have also cloud-based and virtual deployment.

Wireless is an essential technology these days. People use it on their phones or tablets. It works for many clients and numerous number of employees in different locations and in centralized board as well.

Since we became a Ruckus partner, we've managed to increase our sales, and it has helped us deliver better solutions for our clients. It's highly competitive with American and Chinese products, like Huawei and Aruba.

Ruckus features a centralized architecture solution with ultrasound technology, which helps us with communication and roaming.

The switching could be improved. The active component requires a data center. Cisco and HPE have a complete solution for data centers. Ruckus has a core solution, but the data center aspect needs to be improved.

I've been using Ruckus Wireless for five years.

Ruckus' stability is excellent. Aruba is good as well, but Ruckus is better in my opinion. We receive fewer calls and tickets. Their sales and warranty are superb. 

Ruckus Wireless is scalable. It's an IP-based process that's interoperable, so you can deploy it in any environment. 

We are a tech support provider for Ruckus. We take calls and open tickets. 

We were previously an Aruba partner, but we switched to Ruckus because it's better. We've been in business for 15 years, and we have used Cisco, HPE, Extreme, Juniper, and several other vendors in that time.

Ruckus provides us with tools that help us implement the solution. Also, our engineers are certified to do the design and implementation. We don't have a ready-made software design solution for it. It's all predeveloped from Ruckus. Most deployments are straightforward, but they can be complicated if a high level of integration is necessary. 

The time needed to deploy depends on the project and type of setup. For example, it takes about an hour to deploy the controller and AP, so it would take 100 person-hours for a project with 100 APs. The access point sometimes requires cabling, which takes time because you need technicians to do this. You may need one or two system engineers and one after-sales engineer. 

I can't give precise figures. Some partners or resellers get benefits from using these wireless in a hospitality setting. In our job, the ROI is clear.

It is affordable. We get special codes from the vendor, so we can compete with others in the market. There are no hidden costs. The pricing is transparent. 

I rate Ruckus Wireless nine out of 10.

The controller is most valuable. Through Ruckus ZoneDirector, we can easily manage the websites and the web.

We are using the R610 or R510 model, and it is good in terms of signals.

They can improve the cloud portion. Other vendors have a cloud controller, and they can provide the same so that we can see everything.

I have been using this solution for eight years.

It is stable.

It is scalable. We have more than 100 users.

They provide quite good support, and for the product, they have a lifetime warranty.

It is very easy. The setup or configuration of a new access point takes only 10 minutes.

Its price is reasonable for me.

It is a good product, and it is very competitive in terms of price.

I would rate it a nine out of ten.

We started rolling out Ruckus access points about eight years ago, but it was a very small deployment. We only had about 15 or 20 devices, and later on, we did a bond measure upgrade to basically go and expand that to having one per classroom and a few in the common areas such as cafeteria, gyms, and stuff like that. The idea was that we were going to put on-premises one-to-one, which is like putting a Chrome cart of 35 devices in each classroom. We wanted to be able to have the ability to have high-density wireless in the school district and up to possibly 80 devices per room because we were thinking of BYOD and devices that we already have. Generally, it was to be used for just normal day-to-day access to the network and internet.

We now have about 350 WAPs. Half of them have been installed over three years, and the other half are probably installed just under three years. We did a switch refresh in 2015, and we went with Brocade to replace our aging Cisco equipment, which was probably 20 years old. So, that's what we have right now. 

We are basically using the latest version of SmartZone. We are up to date on that. Unfortunately, about 98 of our wireless access points are now considered end-of-service. They don't support the newer boot code, so we had to create a separate zone. They are on a kind of legacy firmware that is probably about five or six versions back. Our other zone has the latest AP firmware. They basically have separate firmware. They are basically doing a firmware for the controller and then a firmware for the APs. You could even elect to have different firmwares per AP.

The APs themselves have been pretty solid. We haven't had too many of them go bad or anything like that. The wireless performance seems pretty good.

The ability to provision the devices is pretty good, and the back end is also pretty good.

Their support has been lacking a little bit and needs to be improved. I have had a ticket open for a month, and it is really hard to get a resolution out of them.

They haven't really come out with anything that is much of an improvement in a long time. It has mostly just been fixes and things like that. We used to have a ZoneDirector or a physical controller for the wireless network, and that was kind of end of life. It was very old, and at the time, we were expanding the wireless network, and we didn't want to rely on one piece of hardware that was pretty old. So, we went to SmartZone Cluster, which has two VMs in a cluster. Unfortunately, we lost the feature ability for guest networks and other things that we were using before, and Ruckus just kind of told us that they weren't supporting that feature in the newer product, which is not really great. I was told initially that SmartZone was an upgrade to ZoneDirector. It is the logical thing to think that it is going to have all the same features, but it didn't. 

The issue that we have right now is onboarding BYOD devices. It is not really great for us, and we're looking for a new product to make that easier. We did have Cloudpath, which was a product that Ruckus purchased from another company that was an onboarding solution, but it just didn't really work very well for us. So, we discontinued using it, and it actually created more confusion for people. They should make BYOD or guest network portals a lot easier and better.

In some areas, we have been having issues because there are just so many WAPs that are so close that we had to manually turn down the radio of power because the automatic feature of the AP wasn't really doing it right. It should also have a little bit better RF analysis capability to be able to see on the controller side. The front end for our staff, students, and guests has also not been quite as good as we had hoped.

I have been using this solution for about eight years.

It has been pretty reliable. I have not had any issues recently. A couple of times, we had some issues while upgrading the path to the latest version of the controller software, for which it took a long time to get a resolution, but otherwise, the system works pretty well.

It is scalable. It seemed pretty easy to scale. We went from having 25 to 350 devices, and it wasn't too difficult. The hardest part is just getting them in the physical location.

In terms of the number of users, it could potentially be up to 4,000 people. When we had full normal school going on, we were seeing somewhere around 1,900 clients a day on average.

One of the deficiencies that they have right now is their support. A lot of times I've opened a ticket with them, and I have this back and forth communication going on. I have had a ticket open for a month, and it is really hard to get a resolution out of them. I would rate them a five out of ten.

Before they had the mergers, their support used to be really good. They have been really good in the beginning, but the company suffered a little bit from being bought out a couple of times. Brocade bought Ruckus, and then ERIS bought them. They then got bought by Broadcom, who sold off half of Brocade's business and then spun the campus switch over to Ruckus Networks. After that, they got bought by CommScope. So, the support has been lacking a little bit.

In terms of an enterprise solution, this is the only solution that we have been using. Before that, we had some kind of APs that weren't really controller-based.

It was pretty straightforward. Once we had it kind of configured and dialed out, it was pretty easy. Obviously, different buildings, devices, and things can be complex. There is no blanket setting that works for all places. 

On campuses where we have buildings more spread out, it works better. When we have one site that is basically a whole giant building, the WiFi is a little too dense there, and we had to manually change some settings for that.

As far as adding an AP is concerned, it is pretty easy. You plug it in, and it contacts the SmartZone controller and downloads the firmware. After that, it shows up as a new available AP. You just put whatever WLAN or zone that you want it to be in.

It is decently priced.

I would advise others to make sure that they do a good demo and the feature set meets what they want.

I would rate Ruckus Wireless an eight out of ten.