Just wondering anyone have any experience with those compared to the Unifi AP.
I have the nanoHD but it does not goes through wall that good.
I’m also testing the TP Link EAP245 V3 and this one is much better as far as range.
Recently saw a video about this ruckus AP and was wondering if they are much better as far as range etc. They are $$ but seem that can be have used for less.
Use would be for home.
There like 16-25 WiFi client or more if family stay.
Range for most client devices (e.g. phones) is limited less by the client hearing the AP, but the AP hearing the client. Beamforming is a way to actively tune the AP’s antenna to amplify signals in both directions towards the current client devices, and Ruckus’ BeamFlex is very good - I never see anyone claiming theirs is better, probably because Ruckus holds a lot of patents in this area that prevent others from doing it the same way.
An R610 is an AC Wave 2 3x3 device, similar to a Unifi NanoHD. An r600 is the AC Wave 1 predecessor, and I wouldn’t recommend installing one today unless you get it very cheap.
There is a very big difference between Unifi and the software that Ruckus offers. There are 4 options:
Standalone - managing each AP individually, with very limited visibility into client devices
Unleashed - the APs make a virtual controller (one AP is elected as a master, and one or two are elected as backups) - I have never used this and can’t comment on what features the software has, but it is meant for small installations
ZoneDirector - their legacy controller, still supported for the ZD1200 line, but gets minimal upgrades - provides similar information about clients as Unifi
SmartZone - their modern controller, and be an appliance (SZ-100) or run as a VM (vSZ) - provides similar information about clients as Unifi
Both ZoneDirector and SmartZone has captive portal options similar to Unifi, but Unifi is much more polished in this regard. I don’t know if Unleashed has a captive portal.
EDIT: Unleashed is free, you just have to install the Unleashed firmware on the AP, or if buying them new you can find them with it already installed
Thanks,
I used my iPhone X to test range and the TP EAP245 was superior to the Unifi nanoHD.
Same results on iPad mini 4 and iPad 6th gen.
I would do more testing.
But I’m intrigued by the ruckus R610 or R710.
More searching it seem that you can flash the non unleashed to unleashed.
I think I would give it a try plus they offer the mesh by just plugging the AP to power no Ethernet cable needed.
Like you mention it seem that they would have great coverage due to the BeamFlex.
It would be for home use that why I’m leaning more towards unleashed software. It seem you do all from the App.
I would look at the less expensive version I can find and then flash, as it seem that the regular are less expensive compared to the unleashed from factory.
Yes you can flash them over to the unleashed firmware, and some third party sellers may charge a premium for the unleashed variant even if Ruckus doesn’t.
Mesh on Ruckus APs is similar to on Unifi - the 5GHz band has to share time between talking to its uplink and talking to its clients. Most true mesh systems have two 5GHz radios that can operate on different channels, to separate backhaul traffic from client traffic.
Yes it seem that the only downside the non dedicated channel for mesh.
But luckily if I get two they would be hardwired. A third one if I ever even get two would be on mesh.
I just did some testing on range between the Unifi nanoHD and TP Link EAP245 V3
At a pretty far distance going through some drywalls and brick wall I got I was on my driveway
NanoHD- 1.7Mbps
EAP245- 29.5Mbps
Backyard less drywall one brickwall
NanoHD- 35.9
EAP245- 94.7
Second floor
NanoHD- 87.9
EAP245- 107
All test numbers on 5Ghz.
Something I did even saw the 2.4Ghz signal.
Some other rooms they were pretty close.
Those were the most extreme differences.
I would bid on a ruckus and see if I win one.
If not I might just get a second EAP245 and return the nanoHD.
I swapped out my Unifi gear for Ruckus. I definitely happy with it. It is a solid AP and has the ability to be configured using the CLI, if needed. Super easy to setup with the unleashed firmware. It is a more of an enterprise solution then Unifi gear is, but its not cheap and I don’t need to run controller software. Unifi does have a much better interface and looks better, but Ruckus is being more enterprise centric you would need to setup a SNMP client like Zabbixs to monitor it fully.