SUNNYVALE, CA – February 13, 2012 – Ruckus Wireless™ today announced that its ZoneFlex Smart Wireless LAN (WLAN) system has seen broad, worldwide adoption by many of the busiest airports around the globe looking to bring reliable, high-performance Wi-Fi connectivity to highly trafficked, high-density passenger terminals.

With thousands of business and leisure travelers carrying smartphones, tablet computers, and other mobile devices passing through airport terminals and guest lounges every day, airports are one of many public venues where the need for high-capacity, high-performance Wi-Fi connectivity has become an expected service.

Among the airports around the world to select Ruckus Smart Wi-Fi products and technology are China’s two largest airports – Beijing Capital International Airport and Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport – which are using the Ruckus system to offer high-speed wireless networking guest access, as well as to support digital signage and other applications.

Mobile device usage is on a significant upward climb in airports and other public areas everywhere, putting strains on airport IT personnel to outfit passenger terminals with advanced Wi-Fi technology capable of handling high user densities and streaming multimedia.

In June of 2011, a study conducted by Boingo Wireless showed that smartphone and tablet usage in airports for the first time overtook laptops, with 58.9 percent of users on its network using handheld devices, up from 34.1 percent in June 2010 and 11.5 percent in June 2008. The 2011 study also showed that the iPad alone accounted for 23.5 percent of connections at airports. Forrester Research estimates that more than 25 percent of business airline passengers and 12 percent of leisure travelers go online at airports.

Smart Wi-Fi Connects Millions at China’s Biggest Airports

Beijing Capital International Airport (BCIA) and Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport (GBIA), China’s busiest and second busiest airports by passenger traffic, are deploying the Ruckus ZoneFlex system to provide free hotspot services to passengers. Both the Beijing airport and Guangzhou airport are installing approximately 100 Ruckus ZoneFlex 7962 and 7363 802.11n dual-band indoor access points (APs) to cover the entire passenger terminals, and are also using Ruckus ZoneDirector 5000 WLAN controllers and the FlexMaster network management system to centrally manage the networks.

Installation at Guangzhou airport was completed in December 2011, while the installation work at Beijing airport is currently underway and is expected to be completed by March 2012.

Beijing JianFei KeLian Technologies, the hotspot provider for these two airports, had conducted vigorous live tests of all the popular WLAN products at the airports for two months. Only Ruckus ZoneFlex APs were able to simultaneously connect 100+ mobile devices, including laptops, smart phones and tablets, reliably at any time. Both airports allow carriers to deploy their own Wi-Fi networks, and Ruckus’ patented adaptive antenna and ChannelFly™ technologies played a major role in the selection, given their unique ability to mitigate interference and select the best channels for providing hotspot services.

In addition, the compact, non-conspicuous design of the ZoneFlex system and mounting options enabled JianFei KeLian to place and install Ruckus APs on walls, ceilings and poles, without affecting the integrity and aesthetics of the terminals.

India Flies High With Better Wi-Fi

India’s largest airport, Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport (CSIA), has installed Ruckus ZoneFlex 7300 series 802.11n smart Wi-Fi access points throughout its international and domestic terminals and is initially offering free multimegabit Wi-Fi services to millions of passengers that transit the airport every year. CSIA operates five terminals over an operational area of 1,450 acres (5.9 km2) – handling over 29.1 million passengers and 670,235 tons of cargo in 2010.

Malaysia’s KL International Airport Moves to Better Wi-Fi

KL International Airport (KLIA), one of the largest airport sites in the world, has standardized on Ruckus’ popular ZoneFlex™ indoor/outdoor Smart Wi-Fi products and technology. The new Ruckus Smart Wi-Fi system is initially being used to provide free high-speed hotspot services to the passengers that transit KLIA every year. KLIA recorded growth in terms of passenger movements to 34.1 million in 2010. The Smart Wi-Fi network will also be used by airlines, ground handling and aircraft engineering staff to access an array of applications.

Operated by Malaysia Airports, KLIA’s facilities span over 100 square kilometers. KLIA’s main terminal building alone is equivalent to the size of 72 football fields. According to KLIA, the move to a new airport-wide Wi-Fi system was driven by the need to give passengers the best possible airport experience by providing ubiquitous broadband access, reliable wireless connectivity and consistent performance. The international airports that have deployed the Ruckus ZoneFlex system include:

• Kuala Lumpur International Airport (Malaysia)
• Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport (Mumbai, India)
• Linz Airport (Austria)
• Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Manila, Philippines)
• Mactan-Cebu International Airport (Manila, Philippines)
• Larnaca Airport (Cyprus)
• Changi Airport Budget Terminal (Singapore)
• Cincinnati Airport
• Sarasota International Airport
• BZN Gallatin Field Airport (Montana)
• Mexico City International Airport
• Medellin International Airport (Columbia)
• Maraba Airport (Brazil)
• Caxias do Sul (Brazil)
• Goiania (Brazil)
• Curitiba (Brazil)
• Porto Alegre (Brazil)
• Rio de Janeiro (Brazil)
• Sao Paulo (Brazil)
• Beijing Capital International Airport (China)
• Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport (China)
• QingDao International Airport (China)
• HangZhou International Airport (China)
• Jinan International Airport (China)
• NingBo LiShe International Airport (China)
• Wenzhou Yongqiang Airport (China)
• Nanchang Changbei International Airport (China)
• Tianjin Binhai International Airport (China)
• Hohhot Baita International Airport (China)
• Wuhan Tianhe International Airport (China)
• Kunming Wujiaba International Airport (China)
• Changsha Huanghua International Airport (China)
• Xi’an Xianyang International Airport (China)
• Haikou Meilan airport (China)
• Shenzhen Bao’an International Airport (China)
• Fuzhou Changle International Airport (China)
• Ürümqi Diwopu International Airport (China)
• ChangChun Longjia International Airport (China)
• Chengdu Shuangliu Internationa Airport (China)
• Wellington Airport (New Zealand)

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The 7762-AC line is ideal for mobile operators’ looking to provide more ubiquitous, reliable, high-capacity Wi-Fi coverage, improve the subscriber experience, and support a growing numbers of smartphones and mobile devices connecting to their networks. With AC power support, the 7762-AC offers fast and easy mounting to street lights, traffic controls, and other street furniture, to quickly light up outdoor metropolitan and other high-density areas with high-performance Wi-Fi.

In addition to public access services, the 7762-AC is well suited for small cell wireless backhaul and mobile data offload, and is designed to be co-located with small cell base stations to minimize expensive site acquisition.

“With so much data traffic clogging cellular networks, operators are looking to re-architect by offloading data traffic to Wi-Fi and certain core processing functions to the edge of their mobile networks,” said Rob Mustarde, vice president of marketing for Ruckus Wireless. “While unlicensed Wi-Fi was widely considered unreliable and uncontrollable by carriers, with recent advances in the technology, it is now being embraced by operators worldwide as one of the most economical tools for adding capacity, coverage and performance to support a new class of higher speed subscribers.

“Our new 7762-AC access points solve these problems with easy deployment anywhere AC power is available,” he continued. “And with a full range of patented Smart Wi-Fi technologies integrated into each device, the 7762-AC offers the industry’s best range, reliability and capacity over other 802.11n outdoor AP alternatives at a much more attractive price point.”

Product Details

The ZoneFlex 7762-AC series is a family of two-stream, 3×3, dual-band 802.11n access points capable of delivering up to 12dBi of signal gain and 15dB of interference rejection and 600 Mbps of capacity. The hardened outdoor AC-powered, 802.11n APs (IP-67 rated) are ideal for high-density user environments such as stadiums, convention centers, shopping malls, and other public areas, and can support up to 500 clients per access point.

The ZoneFlex 7762-AC is available in two models: the 7762-AC, which integrates a 360° directional smart antenna array; and the 7762-S-AC, a sectorized array model that focuses Wi-Fi coverage within 120° beam width. Additionally, the ZoneFlex 7762-AC supports a number of advanced features designed to increase the performance and stability of carrier-class Wi-Fi networks and to simplify deployment. These include:

• Optional, field-installable fiber interface for easily adding backhaul capacity supporting EPON, GEPON, CWDM, and 1000Base-LX,
• 802.3af, power over Ethernet output to drive attached devices such as IP surveillance camera,
• Patented multi-element adaptive antenna array technology that automatically extends signal range and increases link reliability by selecting the best signal path for each client,
• Smart Mesh support for reliable and adaptive long-range, non-line of site backhaul,
• Predictive channel optimization using ChannelFly™ technology to maximize network capacity and client throughput in high-density, noisy Wi-Fi environments,
• An “Any Angle” mounting bracket to simplify installation, providing maximum flexibility.

Designed in an ultra small form factor that weighs less than 2.2 kilograms (5 lbs.), the 7762-AC features separate radios for access and backhaul traffic to deliver optimal throughput to clients throughout the network. The 7762-AC can be deployed stand-alone or centrally managed through the Ruckus ZoneDirector controller or wireless services gateway.

The ZoneFlex 7762-AC and 7762-S-AC are priced starting at $2,499 and come with a one-year warranty.

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SUNNYVALE, CA, 23 January 2012 – Ruckus Wireless™ today announced that the Mandarin Oriental’s flagship North America property in New York has standardized on the Ruckus Wi-Fi wall switch to address explosive demand for IP-based services and wireless capacity.

One of the world’s most prestigious hotels, the Five-Star Mandarin Oriental, New York, situated in New York’s Columbus Circle overlooking Central Park, is one of the first to make a wholesale move to a combine ultra high-speed wired/wireless access by integrating Wi-Fi into standard wall outlets in all 248 guest rooms.  Mandarin Oriental, New York is now one of seven acclaimed Mandarin Oriental hotels that have now installed Ruckus Smart Wi-Fi including Tokyo, Manila, Jakarta, Sanya, London and Hong Kong.

Recognized as a leader in innovative technologies in the hospitality market, Mandarin Oriental, New York was one of the first hotels to deploy a converged IP network.  Previously, Mandarin Oriental, New York was one of the first hotels to deploy technologies such as a distributed antenna system (DAS) to extend Wi-Fi and cellular signals, the first for IP-based voice, the first for stored and broadcast IP-video and the first hotel to install plasma screens throughout the property.

According to the team at Mandarin Oriental, New York, the move to install Ruckus Wi-Fi wall switches in every room was driven by three growing issues: capacity, coverage and user density. “Given the guest demographic, the expectation for more reliable, higher speed and ubiquitous Wi-Fi literally exploded when smart devices like the iPhone and the iPad hit the market,” said Oscar Gomez, Director of Information Technology at Mandarin Oriental, New York.

“The hotel’s previous implementation of Wi-Fi over our in-house distributed antenna system (DAS), originally installed to provide better cellular coverage but as time passed and technologies changed, we found that it couldn’t scale to accommodate the soaring Wi-Fi usage rates and concurrent connections our guests needed. We ultimately decided that an upgrade wasn’t the right tool for the time,” said Gomez.

According to Mandarin Oriental, New York, another key concern was available Ethernet cabling in each room to connect a growing number of IP-based devices such as minibars, IPTV, VoIP phones, in-room environment control systems as well as Wi-Fi-based service optimization applications used by hotel staff.

Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group views Wi-Fi as strategic component to improving overall operations and guest satisfaction across the brand’s hotels.  Housekeepers with iTouches use the Wi-Fi network for service optimization applications such as tracking tasks and keeping guest disruptions to a minimum.  And Mandarin Oriental front-of-house staff use Mtech’s HotSOS application over the Wi-Fi network to address guest-related service issues.

“As a group, we really liked the idea of having a 1:1 relationship between the access point and the guest which gives us the ability to provide more wired connections in each room without disruptive cabling,” said VP of Information Technology of Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group David Heckaman.  “We have seen it pay off for our hotels.”

Since installing the Ruckus Wi-Fi Smart Wi-Fi system, Mandarin Oriental, New York has seen user capacity more than triple and wireless traffic eclipse traffic on the wired network while customer wireless complaints have dropped by more than 85%.

“In October of 2009, we were supporting approximately 2,600 unique wireless sessions generating over 336 gigabytes of traffic,” said Gomez. “In November of 2011, these figures skyrocketed to over 12,000 unique wireless sessions generating over 2 terabytes of traffic just on the Wi-Fi network. That’s a dramatic a shift in a very short period of time.”

In addition to deploying the Ruckus ZoneFlex 7025 Wi-Fi wall switch in all the guest rooms, Mandarin Oriental, New York also installed ZoneFlex dual-band 802.11n access points in the meeting and conference areas to support a higher density of concurrent users.  Redundant ZoneDirector 3000 WLAN controllers provide a single point of management and control for the entire wireless infrastructure.

In the Wall Wireless With Wires

The ZoneFlex 7025 Wi-Fi wall switch integrates 802.11n Wi-Fi technology with wired Ethernet ports in a small-footprint (12.8cm by 8.5cm) wall jack, giving hotel and resort operators an elegant, low-cost and inconspicuous device that allows them to leverage their existing wired infrastructure to deliver an ever expanding set of IP-based guest services over multiple virtual LANs (VLANs).

For many hoteliers, early Wi-Fi implementations are no longer able to keep up with the flood of wireless-only devices and bandwidth-demanding applications being used by guests and staff. Additionally, as many new services and hotel devices embrace IP as the preferred method of connectivity and management, the requirement for a converged wired and wireless network has quickly become a necessity.  For hotels that have deployed an extensive wired Ethernet network, more ports are often required to connect new IP-enabled devices and support new multimedia services, but installing additional Ethernet switches in guest rooms can be cost prohibitive. Not only is it expensive and disruptive, but rewiring also requires more power and often involves special furniture designs to keep cables out of sight.

Deployed as a standalone device or centrally managed by any Ruckus ZoneDirector wireless LAN controller, the ZoneFlex 7025 Wi-Fi wall switch dramatically reduces the cost and complexity of installing and managing wired and wireless network services.

The Ruckus Wi-Fi wall switch is driven by a single power over Ethernet connection and provides four 10/100 Mbps Ethernet jacks and two uplink Ethernet wiring options. Additionally, the Ruckus Wi-Fi wall switch can provide PoE power to a device such as an IP phone and native connectivity to digital phones through a single digital PBX pass through port.

“We needed a solution to deploy in 100 percent of our guest rooms today that would solve our Wi-Fi issues but also wanted to free up our cable plant to allow us to offer more IP connected services in the future to our guest without having to tear up walls and engage in major construction,” said Heckamann. “For the hotels, the Ruckus Wi-Fi wall switch has turned out to be an ideal solution for both our wired and wireless needs.”

FOSS LLC, Communications and IT Network Infrastructure
Solutions provider in GCC has been awarded the International ISO 9001:2008
certification demonstrating the company’s commitment to quality-of-service
standards.

“FOSS always strives to exceed customer expectations,
this award formally recognises this and confirms our reputation for delivering
high levels of quality and service”, said James Underwood, Managing Director of
FOSS LLC.

ISO 9001:2008 standard specifies Quality Management
System (QMS) requirements focused on an organisation’s ability to meet and
improve upon customer satisfaction and quality requirements. As part of the
certification process, FOSS LLC established its own QMS department to ensure
its long-standing commitment to customer satisfaction culture in all areas of
its business. By implementing continued improvement programmes FOSS LLC ensures
it continually improves its customer service levels and quality.

“FOSS has successfully implemented an internationally
recognised quality management system based on the requirements of the ISO
9001:2008 standard,” said Paul McCabe, Commercial Director at FOSS LLC.
“Everyone demonstrated unwavering focus in creating and implementing a QMS
system which delivers continuous improvements in support quality, customer
satisfaction, and a systematic approach to quality management.”

The FOSS LLC certification process began in October 2010.
From July 2011 to October 2011, the Company executed internal audits across its
organisation. An independent auditing agency conducted certification audits
from September 2011 through to November 2011, and certified that FOSS LLC
passed the audit and achieved full certification.

ChannelFly leverages the same Ruckus-patented adaptive antenna approach, BeamFlex™, that constantly learns and selects the best signal path for any given Wi-Fi transmission. A statistical adaptive channel selection technique, ChannelFly applies similar principles to automatically determine the best radio operating frequency (RF channel) to be used that will yield the highest client throughput.

As more users and devices are connecting to Wi-Fi networks, channel capacity is becoming a scarce and valuable resource. Because the level of interference and activity in the Wi-Fi spectrum varies as function of location, frequency and time, it is critical that client devices use the Wi-Fi channel with the lowest activity level and interference level to assure the best possible performance.

A contention-based medium, Wi-Fi uses the unlicensed 2.4 and 5GHz bands, making it highly susceptible to congestion and interference. A proven key to delivering superior performance within a Wi-Fi environment is the extent to which a wireless system can learn and adapt to constant environmental changes that degrade client performance. “Historical approaches to Wi-Fi channel selection use spectrum analysis or packet sniffing techniques to basically guess the impact of interference on Wi-Fi capacity,” said Bill Kish, co-founder and chief technology officer at Ruckus Wireless. “But with Wi-Fi, what an AP hears doesn’t necessarily determine capacity. We skip those needless and disruptive steps and just measure the wireless capacity directly.”

Kish noted that traditional approaches to automate channel selection don’t provide a complete view of what is really happening on a given channel. “ChannelFly was conceived to turn the traditional model on its head by using statistical analysis of real-time channel performance to discover the true capacity of any channel at any time,” said Kish, the inventor of ChannelFly.

A Predictive Model to Wi-Fi Channel Selection

Unlike alternative channel optimization approaches that passively listen for packet retries, transmission errors and RF interference on other channels when the Wi-Fi access point (AP) is not sending or receiving data, ChannelFly is based on a predictive model that uses actual channel activity to learn what channels will yield the most capacity to provide the highest client speeds. Armed with this knowledge, ChannelFly quickly avoids interference within congested and noisy environments while maintaining maximum network throughput. ChannelFly assesses all available channels within the 2.4 and 5GHz bands.

Now integrated within every Ruckus ZoneFlex Smart Wi-Fi AP, ChannelFly operates automatically without any human intervention. And because ChannelFly is based on actual channel throughput measurements, no background scanning is required for ongoing channel optimization. This eliminates the need for APs to be out of service when performing off-channel scanning.

ChannelFly operates with or without client activity. During the first several hours of operation, each Ruckus AP determines the channel with the highest capacity even before users begin to associate. This enables Ruckus-APs to offer a high quality user experience without the service disruptions caused by interference or background scanning. With ChannelFly, Ruckus APs can automatically self-tune before any client devices are connected thereby avoiding service disruptions that can often be associated with RF channel changes. Once clients are active, to ensure seamless operation with end devices, ChannelFly uses the IEEE 802.11h protocol to automatically advertise when a change to a better Wi-Fi channel is necessary.

“We see ChannelFly as a truly important step in the evolution of more reliable Wi-Fi networks,” said Arthur Giftakis, VP of Engineering at Towerstream. “Operating a pervasive Wi-Fi network in one of the most exciting locations on the planet, New York City, we’ve found ChannelFly to be instrumental in yielding higher levels of network capacity within this constantly changing environment. Innovations like ChannelFly are essential to making Wi-Fi carrier class.”

Available immediately at no cost within a new release of Ruckus ZoneFlex software (v. 9.3), ChannelFly is a selectable feature that operates automatically on every Ruckus ZoneFlex access point.

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Mount Everest, the highest mountain in the world, is currently the focus of two different projects: The exact height of the mountain will be measured using cutting-edge technology in a project sponsored by the Nepalese government. A number of other high-tech devices will be used in the ‘Everest Share 2011’ research project. And as part of the international climate and environmental monitoring conference “Share” – Stations at High Altitude for Research on the Environment, the weather conditions will be documented using a MOBOTIX camera.

The highest webcam in the world brings Everest to the Internet.

So, although the results of the height measurement may not be available for another two years, you can already see live images from the “Everest Share 2011″ research project. Everybody can watch real-time video from the top of Mount Everest right from the comfort of the home computer. A MOBOTIX camera makes this possible and it sets a new record in the process: the operation of the highest webcam in the world at temperatures reaching minus 30 degrees Celsius. The Ev-K2-CNR scientific committee from Bergamo, Italy, installed a type-M12 MOBOTIX camera on nearby Kala Patthar (5,675 meters tall). This camera is currently recording stunning images of the 8,848-meter tall Mount Everest. The video shows Mount Everest as well as the South Col Plateau on the right side of the image. The image is updated every five minutes so that
we can even track the movement of the clouds around the mountain’s summit. The webcam is only active during daylight hours (6:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Nepalese time, which corresponds to 0:15 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. Central European time).
The “Everest Share 2011″ research project is taking place as part of the international “Share” climate and environmental monitoring conference. Researchers selected Kala Patthar as the camera location because it offers an excellent view of the western side of Mount Everest, including the
north and southwest faces of the mountain and the West Ridge. The camera uses a wireless connection to transmit images to the Ev-K2-CNR Pyramid Laboratory/Observatory located at an altitude of 5,050 meters. Here, the video is analyzed and then sent to Italy for further evaluation. Researchers hope to learn more about climate change and global warming using this video, in conjunction with meteorological data, such as temperature and humidity, wind speed and direction, sunlight and precipitation, gathered by the world’s highest weather station (8,000 meters) on Mount Everest.

The best image quality under extreme conditions. Powered by a solar panel, the MOBOTIX camera delivers high-quality images in spite of the icy temperatures, which can reach minus 30 degrees Celsius. Since the camera is robust and flexible, it is ideally suited for harsh environmental conditions. The installation was carried out by Italian engineers together with the Nepalese Ev-K2-CNR team and was coordinated by Giampietro Kohl, leader of the Ev-K2-CNR technical committee. Kohl says, “We spent months developing the perfect setup for the installation and invested a lot of time testing and verifying the system. And it inspired us on to set a record: operating the highest webcam in the world.”

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Burson-Marsteller decided to relocate its London office from
Bloomsbury Way to the Legal & General Property and Mitsubishi Estate
Company’s Central Saint Giles scheme – a vibrantly coloured building, designed
by Renzo Piano.

To plan the communications infrastructure for their
move, Burson-Marsteller called in the services of Luton based Admiral Group,
whose director, Adam Sullivan comments, “For Burson-Marsteller, efficient and
reliable communications is a key requirement for the smooth running of its
operation. Admiral’s brief was to specify and install a future proof cabling
infrastructure that could provide assured system performance. Therefore, we had
no hesitation in recommending the installation of Brand-Rex 10GPlus Category 6A
throughout.”

Sullivan further remarked, “10GPlus is a great system to use
and innovations such as the Brand-Rex tool-free RJ-45 Snap-In-Jack help reduce
installation time. Brand-Rex also excels in the level of technical support it
offers and answers to any questions are always rapid and easy to
obtain.”

Burson-Marsteller is a leading global public relations and
communications firm whose knowledge, strategic insights and innovative programs
help drive strong corporate and brand reputations for its clients.  Its London
office opened in 1967. Today, B-M operates 67 wholly owned offices and 71
affiliate offices in 98 countries across six continents.

The company’s new St Giles Central ‘home’ is part of a is a state-of-the-art mixed-use
development consisting of approximately 400,000ft2 of Grade A office space, 56
private apartments, 53 affordable homes and nine new restaurants and café bars
arranged around a courtyard piazza.

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SUNNYVALE, CA – September 19, 2011 – Ruckus Wireless™ today unveiled the ZoneDirector™ 5000 (ZD5000), along with a collection of advanced capabilities within a new version of its award-winning ZoneFlex™ software (v9.2), that deliver unmatched scalability, simplicity and security for providing Wi-Fi access to diverse user groups across multiple locations.

As the growth of Wi-Fi-enabled mobile devices continues at an unprecedented rate, the demand for wireless capacity and speed is driving organizations to offer more reliable, high-speed wireless service within dense user environments. Designed for this purpose, the new Ruckus ZoneFlex Smart Wi-Fi system adds essential hardware and software capabilities to scale, simplify and secure large Wi-Fi networks.

The ZoneDirector 5000 is the industry’s first controller-based system that can be flexibly deployed either in-line, or out of the data path, supporting up to 20,000 clients, 1,000 access points (APs), and 2,048 wireless LANs (WLANs) within a single, easy-to-use platform.

Additionally, Ruckus has increased the client capacity of its ZoneFlex dual-band 802.11n APs to support 256 concurrent clients per AP (256 clients per radio), making them the ideal Wi-Fi solution for high-capacity, dense user environments where reliable Wi-Fi services and extended coverage are essential.

“Given the unstoppable move to mobile Internet devices and applications, dealing with user density and scalability is quickly becoming a point of contention for enterprises and service providers,” said Selina Lo, president and CEO of Ruckus Wireless. “Ruckus is tackling this problem by combining patented adaptive antenna technology that enables more consistent performance and client connectivity, with a powerful new hardware platform and software enhancements that take away the complexity historically associated with managing a large-scale Wi-Fi infrastructure.”

Among the first customers to deploy the new ZD5000 is NEBO School District in Utah. NEBO has deployed redundant ZD5000s to manage more than 625 Ruckus 802.11n access points across 43 different schools and six district sites.

In addition to the ZD5000 platform, Ruckus has introduced a new version of its award-winning ZoneFlex Smart/OS software system (version 9.2) for all of its Smart WLAN controllers, with important enhancements such as:

• AP groups for bulk configuration and simplified WLAN administration,
• Smart mesh enhancements that increase overall network performance and reliability,
• IPv6 support for virtually limitless IP addressing,
• Remote packet capture on Ruckus APs to streamline troubleshooting and network analysis,
• Automatic proxy configuration for clients to enhance security and network performance,
• 802.1X wired Ethernet port security that protects against unauthorized network access through APs installed in public areas,
• Configurable timeouts for idle clients that help increase network capacity, and re-authentication grace periods that eliminate users from having to constantly re-authenticate,
• Wireless Internet Service Provider roaming (WISPr) and L2TP tunneling support on standalone ZoneFlex 802.11n APs for seamless integration and flexible deployment of hotspot services.

Making Wi-Fi Super Scalable

At the heart of scaling Wi-Fi capacity is the introduction of the ZoneDirector 5000 Smart WLAN controller. Perfect for large-scale wireless environments such as hotels, schools, hospitals and managed service environments, the ZD 5000 is the first Smart WLAN platform to combine power, simplicity and scalability into a single, affordable system.

Highly resilient with dual/hot-swappable AC/DC power supplies and fans, the ZD5000 integrates the same ZoneFlex Smart/OS software as other ZoneDirector platforms, supporting advanced features such as meshing, hot spot authentication, guest networking and dynamic Wi-Fi security at no additional cost.

Making Wi-Fi Super Simple

To simplify the management, configuration and troubleshooting of large-scale WLAN environments, Ruckus is introducing a number of software enhancements.

Ruckus APs now support remote wireless packet capture for troubleshooting and network analysis. While continuing to serve clients, Wi-Fi packets can be collected over-the-air and saved to a file for future analysis or streamed in real-time directly to a packet analyzer.

To save time and effort when configuring or changing the configuration of numerous APs, network administrators can now define up to 512 AP groups and create profiles that define channels, power levels and other configurable fields. WLAN groupings – that allow different SSIDs to appear on different Wi-Fi radios and APs, thereby streamlining the operation of a large number of small-sized networks from a single controller – have also been expanded to up to 2,048.

Making Wi-Fi Super Secure

Ensuring the highest levels of wireless security, encrypted data tunnels now provide privacy for data traffic traversing the wired LAN – making ZoneFlex APs the ideal Wi-Fi solution for retail operations concerned with PCI compliance.

Additionally, Ruckus ZoneFlex APs now support 802.1X wired Ethernet port security, protecting against unauthorized network access through APs installed in public areas by extending wired port access security to Ethernet ports on the AP.

Support for Layer 2 Tunneling Protocol (L2TP) has also been added to all Ruckus 802.11n access points used as standalone APs. Remote APs use L2TP to automatically create a secure VPN tunnel to a central network. If the L2TP tunnel is unavailable, APs can be configured to disable WLAN services.

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 The projects to be carried out by ESPCI ParisTech’s students under Nexans’ sponsorship will be specified in annual “action plans” drawn up at the start of each academic year. These plans will be defined during meetings between engineering students responsible for the sponsored activities and Nexans’ representatives. They will include various types of activities designed to reinforce the mutual understanding and interaction between the School and the company. For example, conferences or roundtables regarding Nexans’ strategy and business, as well as site visits, will be arranged during the next three years. In addition, work assignments and training periods will be offered within Nexans’ Corporate Technical Department.

 “When ESPCI approached us as an industrial company specializing in energy with a view to sponsoring the School’s 130th class, we agreed immediately. As a technology leader, we believe it is essential to contribute to the training of future experts and to have a breeding ground for talented peoples who might join our company at the end of their studies,” says Jean-Maxime Saugrain, Nexans’ Corporate Vice President Technical.

“Corporate sponsorship helps engineering students to become familiar with the business and the culture of a global industrial company; it is therefore essential for training engineers. Nexans’ sponsorship will put the cross-disciplinary approaches of their scientific training to work in the fields of energy and electrical engineering, while at the same time reinforcing the School’s pillars – scientific excellence and international influence,” says Roger Famery, Director of Corporate Relations for ESPCI ParisTech.

Leading French engineering school in ARWU 2010* ranking

Founded by the City of Paris in 1882, ESPCI ParisTech is both a major institution of higher education (a French “Grande École d’ingénieurs”) and an internationally renowned research center (with 5 Nobel Prize winners) where education, research and innovation are at the crossroads of knowledge and know-how in physics, chemistry and biology. ESPCI ParisTech is also an “entrepreneur factory” exemplified by Professor and Honorary Scientific Director Jacques Lewiner, who also heads the School’s General Electricity Laboratory. Furthermore, the strong interaction between education and research provides ESPCI ParisTech engineers with sound experimental skills as well as acute scientific reasoning and rigour which they bring to bear in the laboratory. In 2011, for the fourth year in a row, the Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU*), also known as the “Shanghai ranking”, has placed ESPCI ParisTech in the lead among French engineering schools, thus putting the School on an equal footing with the best Universities in the world.

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SUNNYVALE, CA – August 12, 2011 – Ruckus Wireless today announced Everything Channel has named the company an overall category winner with SMB Networking Hardware in the prestigious 2011CRN Annual Report Card (ARC), outscoring Cisco, HP, Adtran and D-Link.

Unlike other awards, CRN’s ARC is a research award based on extensive channel partner surveys covering a wide range of areas from product innovation to technical support. This year, CRN surveyed thousands of North American value-added resellers as part of the research award process. Created over 20 years ago, CRN’s ARC is considered the industry’s most exclusive channel honor, serving as a definitive benchmark of relationships between vendors and channel partners and maintains the industry standard for measuring excellence within the channel community.

As a pure-play wireless LAN channel company, Ruckus is the fastest growing enterprise WLAN supplier in the market, selling its line of Smart Wi-Fi products exclusively through a vast network of solution providers around the world. Its ZoneFlex system is widely considered the most popular channel wireless solution on the market today because it was purpose-built for channel partners looking for simplicity, sophistication and differentiation.

The Everything Channel ARC research team surveyed more than 3600 solution providers across 21 categories to evaluate the satisfaction they have with vendors’ products, support and channel programs. Winners are then selected to the Annual Report Card and presented with awards at the annual XChange Americas Conference. To view a slideshow of all the organizations named to the 2011 ARC visit www.crn.com.

“When it comes to the strength of relationships, quality of products and return on partner programs, solution providers want to hear from their fellow VARs about the IT vendors that consistently exceed expectations,” said Kelley Damore, vice president, editorial director for Everything Channel. “The Annual Report Card gives solution providers the opportunity to share feedback and recognize the vendors who truly demonstrate channel excellence. We congratulate Ruckus for being recognized as the best of the best.”

Over the past year Ruckus has focused heavily on growing its Big Dogs partner program and since the beginning of 2011 has added nearly 600 new, high-volume resellers and integrators. The Big Dogs program now has more than 2,500 partners, which have significantly helped propel Ruckus to be the leading wireless networking provider in key vertical markets like education and hospitality, while also growing its customer base in the healthcare, manufacturing and retail sectors.

“In enterprises everywhere, there is a major shift to more reliable wireless connectivity, as iPads and tablets, smartphones and other handheld devices are accessing corporate networks in huge numbers,” said Ron Gill, vice president of North American sales for Ruckus Wireless. “We’ve done the hard work, built the industry’s most channel-friendly Wi-Fi system on the market and delivered the differentiation and dollars that partners are looking for. The hard work is now paying off.”

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