Ruckus Latest Shout-Out: Small and Medium Sized Business Gear
30.11.1999 / 802.11b Networking News
Easy configuration, low cost, no RF experience required, the company says: Ruckus Wireless, an ahead-of-the-curve wireless gear maker that, until now, has looked to bridging metro-scale networks into homes and distributing media around a house over Wi-Fi for IPTV (Internet Protocol Television) providers as its key markets is expanding into the SMB space, offering small-to-medium-sized businesses a new line of easy-to-configure, inexpensive products that can achieve enterprise-like results. In a briefing last week, CEO Selina Lo said, "We saw that for the SMBs, there's a big need for a complete wireless LAN solution made simple -- so simple that you don't need IT operators." A problem that I've heard consistently expressed by SMBs is that with no or few full-time IT staffers, enterprise-scale WLAN technology is not just an order of magnitude too expensive, but would require too much in-house expertise to run. "There are lots of companies from 50 to 500 people -- they still need completely secure and robust and critical Wi-Fi solutions," Lo said. Lo said that the company will have three offerings: auto-discovery access points, including their existing 802.11g ZoneFlex 2925 access point, which is ready to work with their new system, and a planned 802.11n addition in the third quarter; a controller, called ZoneDirector, that manages and directs the functions of APs, as well as handles authentication; and FlexMaster, a remote administration tool, which will ship in the fourth quarter. The 802.11g access point lists for $259; an office-building oriented model (2942) will ship in July for $349, and sport power over Ethernet and a plenum-space fire rating. The ZoneDirector 1000 series comprises three models that manage a maximum of 6, 12, or 25 access points, and cost, respectively, $1,200, $2,000, and $3,500. They ship in July. The 802.11n access point and FlexMaster tool have not yet had their pricing set. Lo said the company will also offer a starter pack of six 2925 access points and the entry-level six-AP ZoneDirector for $2,000, a discount of about $750 off list. The company has also developed a simple security alternative that occupies a niche between WPA/WPA2 Personal's preshared key and the authentication server-driven WPA/WPA2 Enterprise system. They call this Dynamic PSK, and say patents are pending....
