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Commenting on Ruckus' growth in EMEA as a result of Pervasive Performance Baghdadi says, "As a region with worldwide trends in IT spending, the Middle East as a market was expected to grow by 14.3% in 2012. Ruckus Wireless has experienced tremendous growth in EMEA and we look forward to continuing our rapid growth."
The competitive Wi-Fi testing, conducted by Syracuse University's Center for Convergence and Emerging Networking Technologies (CCENT), in cooperation with Ruckus Wireless, was developed to help enterprise managers better determine what type of real-world performance can be expected from leading Wi-Fi suppliers including Aruba, Aerohive, Cisco, Meraki, and Ruckus Wireless.
The inclusive testing is the first view into the real-world performance of emerging three-stream 802.11n enterprise Wi-Fi systems. New three-stream 802.11n access points use multiple Wi-Fi radio chains to simultaneously transmit different streams to receiving devices. Three-stream capable receiving devices are able to combine these streams to achieve higher data rates. Typically Wi-Fi vendors quote the theoretical maximum data rate of 450 Mbps for each radio. Ruckus ZoneFlex 7982 consistently posted the highest aggregate transmission control protocol (TCP) throughput measurements, taking the top spot in 66% of all the tests performed.
While Ruckus provided advice and guidance in the formulation of test plans, the actual testing was performed by a team of Syracuse students who have all completed advanced coursework addressing Wi-Fi and 802.11.
"While performance is only one factor in assessing the quality of enterprise Wi-Fi product offerings, it is an increasingly important factor as Wi-Fi enabled devices proliferate and Wi-Fi emerges as the default network access mode in many organizations," said Dave Molta, Associate Professor of Practice in the School of Information Studies at Syracuse University, who oversaw the student testing. "However, there is a general void in the market with respect to quantitative data that addresses the real-world throughput of 3-stream MIMO product offerings."
Overall Vendor Performances
Single AP / Single Client Testing
In single AP, single client bi-directional tests, the Ruckus ZoneFlex 7982 posted the top aggregate TCP throughput of 372, 275 and 228 Mbps at short, medium, and long distances, respectively. When compared against the average of all vendors at all distances, Ruckus delivered 60% greater Wi-Fi performance.
Single AP / Multi Client Testing
In single AP, multi client tests, the Ruckus ZoneFlex 7982 achieved the highest aggregate TCP throughput of all vendors on 83% of the tests. In bi-directional TCP throughput tests, the Ruckus 7982 posted top speeds of 206, 143, and 91 Mbps at short, medium, and long distances, respectively. When compared against the average of all vendors at all distances, Ruckus delivered 116% greater Wi-Fi performance.
Multi AP / Multi Client Testing
In multi-AP, multi-client tests (6 APs and 120 clients)—the most complex attempt to measure throughput of real-world enterprise deployments—the Ruckus ZoneFlex 7982 achieved the highest TCP throughput of all vendors on 58% of tests performed. In bi-directional TCP throughput tests, the Ruckus ZoneFlex 7982 posted top aggregate speeds of 570 and 562Mbps. When compared against the average of all vendors at all distances, Ruckus delivered 51% greater Wi-Fi performance.
Ruckus and CCENT acknowledge that vendor-sponsored network testing should be viewed with a critical eye towards bias. CCENT made a diligent effort to exercise independence, soliciting input from the other vendors in cases where they were willing to cooperate, and to optimize performance for all products tested.
Posted by Rana Mesbah
