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.
Assistan Manager & Team Lead Network Design Team at Comstar - Information Systems Associates Ltd.
Offers excellent WiFi connectivity across APs along with a valuable SmartRoam feature
Pros and Cons
- "Offers excellent WiFi connectivity and a valuable SmartRoam feature"
- "The response time of the support team needs to improve"
What is our primary use case?
What is most valuable?
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.
What needs improvement?
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.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Ruckus Wireless for eight years.
Buyer's Guide
Ruckus Wireless
April 2026
Learn what your peers think about Ruckus Wireless. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: April 2026.
893,311 professionals have used our research since 2012.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The product offers impressive stability.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
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.
How are customer service and support?
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.
How was the initial setup?
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.
What was our ROI?
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.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
Ruckus Wireless is available at a reasonable price. I would rate the pricing a seven out of ten.
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer. Partner
General Manager at InfoMed Technologies PLC
User-friendly, good signal strength, and easy to set up
Pros and Cons
- "Stability has been very good. It is reliable."
- "If the system could directly download and update, that would be much easier. It could be more automated."
What is our primary use case?
The solution is used for wireless connectivity. It's excellent for internet access.
How has it helped my organization?
It works well in company or hotel environments to provide WiFi.
What is most valuable?
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.
What needs improvement?
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.
For how long have I used the solution?
I've used the solution for many years. I've likely used it for more than ten years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
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.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
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.
How are customer service and support?
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.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Positive
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
I've also worked with Cisco solutions. Cisco is more expensive, and there is less performance. Ruckus offers better quality.
How was the initial setup?
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.
What about the implementation team?
We can help our customers implement the solution.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
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.
What other advice do I have?
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.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer. partner
Buyer's Guide
Ruckus Wireless
April 2026
Learn what your peers think about Ruckus Wireless. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: April 2026.
893,311 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Network Engineer at Supernet Pvt Limited
I like the BeamFlex technology, Wi-Fi 6, and channel management features
Pros and Cons
- "Ruckus Wireless is reliable. The most valuable features are BeamFlex technology, Wi-Fi 6, and channel management."
- "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."
What is our primary use case?
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.
What is most valuable?
Ruckus Wireless is reliable. The most valuable features are BeamFlex technology, Wi-Fi 6, and channel management.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been providing Ruckus for seven years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
I rate Ruckus six out of 10 for reliability. Mostly, we face issues with this port.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
I give Ruckus nine out of 10 for scalability.
How are customer service and support?
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.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Neutral
How was the initial setup?
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,
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
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.
What other advice do I have?
I rate Ruckus Wireless nine out of 10. I would recommend it.
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer. Partner
Manager-IT Infrastructure at a wellness & fitness company with 5,001-10,000 employees
It is controller-based and easy to configure, but it needs to automate its guest Wifi access function
Pros and Cons
- "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."
What is most valuable?
What I like best about Ruckus Wireless is that it's a controller-based product, so it's easy to configure.
What needs improvement?
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.
For how long have I used the solution?
My company has been using Ruckus Wireless for five years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Regarding stability, I rate Ruckus Wireless as eight out of ten.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
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.
How are customer service and support?
My rating for Ruckus Wireless technical support is eight out of ten. It has a small room for improvement.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Positive
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
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.
How was the initial setup?
Ruckus Wireless has a simple initial setup.
What about the implementation team?
An integrator deployed Ruckus Wireless for my company, but my company is responsible for maintaining the product.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
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.
What other advice do I have?
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.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Board Member at SevenGate
It features a centralized architecture solution with ultrasound technology, which helps us with communication and roaming.
Pros and Cons
- "Ruckus features a centralized architecture solution with ultrasound technology, which helps us with communication and roaming."
- "Since we became a Ruckus partner, we've managed to increase our sales, and it has helped us deliver better solutions for our clients."
- "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."
- "The switching could be improved. The active component requires a data center."
What is our primary use case?
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.
How has it helped my organization?
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.
What is most valuable?
Ruckus features a centralized architecture solution with ultrasound technology, which helps us with communication and roaming.
What needs improvement?
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.
For how long have I used the solution?
I've been using Ruckus Wireless for five years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
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.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Ruckus Wireless is scalable. It's an IP-based process that's interoperable, so you can deploy it in any environment.
How are customer service and support?
We are a tech support provider for Ruckus. We take calls and open tickets.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
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.
How was the initial setup?
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.
What was our ROI?
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.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
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.
What other advice do I have?
I rate Ruckus Wireless nine out of 10.
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Coordinator of the IT Department at College Notre-Dame
Reliable Wi-Fi connection improved our organization's remote teaching setup
Pros and Cons
- "The most valuable feature is that this solution is reliable."
- "We were in a bad shape, especially with remote teaching and things like that, so now everything's all right because of the reliability of Ruckus."
- "We use this solution in a certain way, and it works very well. So, I don't expect it to do a lot more, but to do what it's doing probably better or faster. But it's not a problem with the features; it's more the operations."
- "We use this solution in a certain way, and it works very well, so I don't expect it to do a lot more, but to do what it's doing probably better or faster."
What is our primary use case?
My organization is a college, so we just want to make sure we have a reliable Wi-Fi connection for the students.
We are using the latest version of Ruckus. It is deployed on-premise.
Right now, there are over 2,000 people using this solution.
How has it helped my organization?
We were in a bad shape, especially with remote teaching and things like that, so now everything's all right because of the reliability of Ruckus.
What is most valuable?
The most valuable feature is that this solution is reliable.
What needs improvement?
We use this solution in a certain way, and it works very well. So, I don't expect it to do a lot more, but to do what it's doing probably better or faster. But it's not a problem with the features; it's more the operations.
For how long have I used the solution?
I've been using this solution for the past 12 months.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The stability is fine. We haven't had any problems.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
We haven't had any issues with the scalability.
How are customer service and support?
Technical support is good. I would rate it a 4 out of 5. There's still some improvement that could be made.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
We have also used Cisco. We switched because of many reasons, but staying with Cisco would have cost us almost double the price. So, we had to change. It's not a question of reliability because Cisco is reliable also. It's more a question of something that's not for corporations and more for education in our case.
How was the initial setup?
Initial setup was pretty straightforward. On a scale of 1 to 5, I would rate it a 4.
Deployment took a week. We require less than 5% of our staff for maintenance of this solution to be hassle-free.
What about the implementation team?
We used an integrator for deployment.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
I would rate their pricing 3 out of 5.
There is no annual licensing cost.
What other advice do I have?
I would rate this solution 9 out of 10.
It's very good for our needs, but because it's a school, it maybe wouldn't be as good for a corporation or for other users. For our school, it's very reliable. We have peaks, but it's always well-managed. We don't have any problems.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Solutions Architect at Golden West Technologies
Easy configuration with a good performance and good scalability
Pros and Cons
- "The solution has an easy configuration."
- "In head to head competition, Ruckus far outshines them 10 to one."
- "They need to be able to allow us to keep some of the older products on our cloud controllers or any of their controllers longer and just start supporting the new controllers. They force you into an upgrade unnecessarily."
- "They need to be able to allow us to keep some of the older products on our cloud controllers or any of their controllers longer and just start supporting the new controllers. They force you into an upgrade unnecessarily."
What is our primary use case?
We primarily use the solution for its performance, compatibility, and capability.
We do a lot of schools, some colleges, large civic centers, large arenas, that kind of stuff. We know how to deploy this so that they get great client connectivity and have easy guest onboarding. We can onboard guests really easily. Each guest that connects has a pre-shared key that they get. They're all unique. We have some great control over guest traffic, and great control over say, corporate traffic. We control how much bandwidth a guest user gets versus a corporate user, and who gets priority on the network.
How has it helped my organization?
When COVID happened, we deployed external access points to the outside of a lot of the buildings that are very weather-resistant, all-metal enclosures, and their students have been able to do assignments and schoolwork and that kind of stuff from the parking lots of the schools. They can drive up in their car, get their assignments, or do work that they need to while they're connected to the school. It made it pretty seamless as everything was already set up on their laptops. Most of the schools are what they call the one-to-one initiatives, where every student gets a laptop. They've been able to work through COVID from their cars in parking lots when they need to be at the school for something. It's really benefited a lot of the schools to be able to do that.
What is most valuable?
The solution has an easy configuration.
The performance is good.
Ruckus is way ahead of the game on a lot of stuff, like Wi-Fi 6. They're already rolling out their second version of Wi-Fi 6 which is a huge improvement over even Wi-Fi 5. The way wireless started is you had 802.11b, 802.11a, then 802.11g and 802.11n, then 802.11ac, then AC wave 2, 802.11ax, which is Wi-Fi 6, the first version. Now, the next version of Wi-Fi 6 is rolling out already.
These guys are an engineering company that has some very awesome patterns on how their radios work and their antennas and antenna patterns, and how their signaling and stuff works. That's why nobody can touch them. If they go head-to-head with anybody, they blow Cisco and Aruba out of the water, and Mist, for radio client connectivity.
They compete head-to-head with all the big names.
What needs improvement?
As far as what they can improve, that's a good question, as they're leaders in what they do in my opinion. I don't know what they can do to improve what they're doing currently.
They're not the most expensive, and they're not the least expensive. They're right there in the middle. Pricing might be a deciding factor for some companies. If they were cheaper, they might land more customers.
They've got a rotation or a life expectancy of about four years for the radio. Not that the radio is going to die. I've got some that are way older than that that the customers are still using. However, they take them and they end the life of them at four years.
Many of their wireless products are end of life by year four. That's most of it as technology has changed so much that those old radios can't do stuff that is now available for PCs to connect or phones to connect to, etc. What they do is they force you into upgrading. We've got a couple of cloud controllers. If I've got a cloud controller that is in the same version 5.1, and I want to go to version 5.2, due to the fact that I need to support the new radios coming out, I can't if I have some older radios on that controller. They make it so I can't upgrade that controller to the latest software to support the new radios as I've got some end of life radios on there that go end of life when I upgrade the software.
They need to be able to allow us to keep some of the older products on our cloud controllers or any of their controllers longer and just start supporting the new controllers. They force you into an upgrade unnecessarily. We have some customers that have just a few APs, small businesses that don't want to or don't need to upgrade their controllers. For us to be able to work with their latest access points, we've got to upgrade their controller, but we can't as it's got some older ones on it, and that bites us every year.
I know the reasoning behind it. It's because it could be security features or it's something that the access points don't support that newer devices do, like your laptops and cell phones. They'll support this new Wi-Fi 6 coming out, yet I can't run the same types of radios on this particular controller software anymore. They can't have both. That kind of puts me off a little bit. But that's the only thing that the company's done that's made me mad.
There's a lot of new features coming out of Wi-Fi 6 that they don't even have the chips in the phones for yet.
For how long have I used the solution?
I've been using the solution for six years or so at this point.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The solution is very stable. We don't have any issues with it at all.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The solution is very scalable. I can have up to three controllers, each one housing 10,000 APs. Therefore, I can have a cluster of controllers controlling 30,000 different APs. I don't have anything that big. The closest one is close to 1000, however, still, it's nice to be able to have redundancy. I can build in more redundancy if I need to.
How are customer service and technical support?
As a Ruckus partner, I've got access to Ruckus. I've got access to tech support and it makes things a lot easier for our end-users and the businesses that I work with. If they have an issue they can come directly to me, or they can go directly to Ruckus. It doesn't matter. I'll be happy to help them. If I can't answer the question or get them fixed, then we'll deal with tech support. I don't call tech support very often. Maybe once a year, if that. They make a good product and have good training. Once you learn it, it's pretty easy to manage. We used to have Cisco's products die on us every one or two years. I don't know the last time I had to turn in an RMA for a Ruckus radio. They have a solid product.
How was the initial setup?
I've been doing it a long time, so for me, the setup is straightforward. If a person is a brand new to the system, like any system, it can be fairly complex. However, they have great documentation on their website on how to set it up. To do very complex things, that takes somebody who knows what they are doing. I've got a very complex scenario that I need to set up then that's what I get paid for - to help set that stuff up. I will go in and configure things securely for guest access and BYOD devices and corporate laptops with 802.1x.
You can have a controller version, or it could be a controller-less. I have a standalone AP, I just got one office with one AP, I don't need it to be controlled by anything. I've got one or two SSIDs, and that can still be configured. It's just that you're doing it on the AP or they have what's called Unleashed, which is controller-less. The AP is the controller and that can do up to 50 APs all controlled by one AP. But if that AP was to die, it doesn't matter that configuration is saved on all of them and the next one in line will just take over as the controller AP. There are several different interfaces you may run into to be able to configure the things, however, they're all very similar in how they work and react. The full controller has much more capability than Unleashed, and Unleashed has more capability than the standalone.
In terms of deployment, we figure for an AP it's about an hour and a half. That's for both configuration and installation. Therefore, if you have 20 APs, it's about 30 hours for 25 APs. That's setting up the controller, virtual or cloud-based, setting up the APs, your SSIDs, passwords, 802.1x, and then physically mounting them.
What was our ROI?
Our clients definitely get a return on investment when they purchase Ruckus.
What other advice do I have?
We are a customer and reseller.
I'm using the latest version of the solution.
Through a controller, we use 802.1x. There are multiple ways to deploy it to customers, including via a cloud controller. We typically do a virtual controller on our client's systems.
I would advise, if a company is new to Ruckus, to work with a partner. It's important to have somebody that knows what they're doing, and knows what questions to ask so that you're getting the right information. When I go to do an implementation, I've got a list of 50 different questions. I'll ask somebody, what about this? What about this? What about this?
You get what you pay for. People will throw in Lynksys and this other home stuff up. I'll say, that's great. If you're a business, it won't cut it. Say you're a coffee shop and I've got 50 customers sitting side. you want all of them to get the same performance all the time. If I've got three people, four people in that coffee shop streaming videos or watching movies or whatever it might be, I want to make sure everybody gets an equal amount of time without anybody getting any interruptions. With Linksys and Ubiquiti and all these other brands, you don't get that. In head to head competition, Ruckus far outshines them 10 to one. You just can't compete. When they say it's going to do something, it'll do it. They don't put documentation out that is misleading. If it says it'll do 1,024 clients it'll do 1,024 clients. If it says it'll do 4.3 gigabytes, it'll do 4.3 gigabytes.
I'd rate the solution at a nine out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Private Cloud
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Solutions Architect at Golden West Technologies
Great performance, easy to set up and simple to configure
Pros and Cons
- "The product has some very awesome patents on their radios and their antennas and antenna patterns and how their signaling works. That's why nobody can touch them. If they go head to head with anybody."
- "When it comes to the head-to-head competition, the Ruckus far out-shines them; ten to one, you just can't compete."
- "The cost could be slightly improved. It's not on the low end, and it's not in the high end. It's in that middle area, which can be a deciding factor between someone going with this solution versus another one."
- "They force you into an upgrade unnecessarily."
What is our primary use case?
We primarily use the solution for its performance, compatibility, and general capabilities. We do a lot of schools, colleges, large civic centers, large arenas, etc. That kind of stuff. We know how to deploy this so that the clients get great client connectivity.
How has it helped my organization?
In terms of COVID, we've deployed external access points to the outside of a lot of the buildings. These are very weather-resistant, all-metal enclosures. The students have been able to do assignments and schoolwork and that kind of stuff from the parking lots of the schools. They can drive up in their car, get their assignments, or do work that they need to while they're connected to the school. It made social distancing in this way pretty seamless as everything was already set up on their laptops. Most of the schools are what they call the one-to-one initiative, where every student gets a laptop and they've been able to work through COVID from their cars in parking lots when they needed to be at the school for something. It's really benefited a lot of the schools to be able to do that.
What is most valuable?
The performance of the product is amazing.
The ease of configuration that's on offer is very good.
The product is very compatible with other solutions.
The guest onboarding is so simple. We can onboard guests really easily. Each guest that connects has a pre-shared key that they get which are all unique. We have some great control over the guest and corporate traffic. We can control how much bandwidth a guest user gets versus a corporate user, and who gets priority on there.
Ruckus is way ahead of the game on a lot of stuff like Wi-Fi 6. They're already rolling out the second version of Wi-Fi 6, which is a huge improvement over even Wi-Fi 5. The way wireless started is you had 802.11b, 802.11a, then 802.11g and 802.11n, then 802.11ac, then AC wave to 802.11ax which is the first version of Wi-Fi 6. The next version of Wi-Fi 6 is rolling out already.
The product has some very awesome patents on their radios and their antennas and antenna patterns and how their signaling works. That's why nobody can touch them. If they go head to head with anybody. They blow Cisco and Aruba out of the water and even Mist for radio plant connectivity. On top of that, they have very good engineering. If I ever need help with engineering stuff, I can call on them. The company does a really good job, which is why we've stayed with them.
What needs improvement?
They're leaders in what they're doing. I don't know what they can do to improve what they're doing currently.
The cost could be slightly improved. It's not on the low end, and it's not in the high end. It's in that middle area, which can be a deciding factor between someone going with this solution versus another one.
They've got a rotation or a life expectancy of about four years for the radio. Not that radio is going to die right hten. I've got some that are way older than that, that the customers are still using. However, they take them and they end the life of them at four years. Any of their wireless products are end of life by year four. Most of it's because technology has changed so much that those old videos can't do stuff that is now available for PCs to connect or phones to connect to that kind of stuff.
What they do is they force you into a Cloud controller. We've got a couple of them. If I've got a Cloud controller there and it's on version 5.1, and I want to go to version 5.2, bdue to the fact that I need to support the new radios coming out, I can't if I have some older radios on that controller. I can't upgrade that controller to the latest software to support the new radios as I've got some end of life radios on there that go into life when I upgrade the software. They need to be able to allow us to keep some of the older products on the Cloud controllers or any of their controllers longer, and just start supporting the new controllers. They force you into an upgrade unnecessarily.
We have some customers that have just a few APs. There are some small businesses that don't want to, or don't need to upgrade their controllers and they're crushing their access points. For us to be able to work with the latest access points, we've got to upgrade our controller, however, we can't. That bites us every year. We'll have customers that have APs that are going end of life that still work fine, but we can't manage them anymore.
I know the reasoning behind it is it could be security features or it's something that the access points don't support that newer devices do. They'll support this new Wi-Fi 6 coming out, however, I can't run the same types of radios on this particular controller software anymore. That kind of puts me off a little bit, however, that's the only thing that the company has done that's made me mad.
For how long have I used the solution?
I've been using the solution for the past six years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The stability of the product is rock solid. We haven't had any issues at all.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The solution is extremely scalable. I can have up to three controllers with each one housing 10,000 APS. I can have a cluster of controllers controlling 30,000 different APS. I don't have anything that big. One is close to a thousand and that's the biggest I have. Still, it's nice to be able to build in more redundancy.
How are customer service and technical support?
As a Ruckus partner, I've got access to Ruckus. I've got access to tech support, and it makes things a lot easier for the end-users and businesses I work with. If they have an issue, they can come directly to me or they can go directly to Ruckus, it doesn't matter. I'll be happy to help them. If I can't answer the question or get them fixed, then we'll get with tech support. I don't call tech support very often. Maybe once a year, if that. They make a good product and offer good training. Once you learn it, it's pretty easy to manage.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
We used to have Cisco's products for one or two years. I don't know the last time I had to turn in an RMA for a Ruckus radio. They're a solid product.
How was the initial setup?
I've been doing implementations for a long time. If it's brand new to the system, like any system, it can be fairly complex. However, they have great documentation on their website on how to set it up. If a client needs complexity, however, they need help. That's where I come in.
I can go in and configure things securely for guest access and BYOB devices and corporate laptops with 802.1X. I have a stand-alone AP, I just got one office with one AP. I don't need it to be controlled by anything. If I've got one or two SSID, it can still be configured. It's just that you're doing it on the AP or, alternatively, they have what's called Unleashed, which is controller-less. The AP is the controller that can do up to 50 APs all controlled by one AP. If that AP was to die, it doesn't matter, that configuration is saved on all of them.
There are several different interfaces you may run into, to be able to configure everything. However, they're all very similar in how they work and react. The full controller has much more capability than Unleashed and at least has more capability on the stand-alone. In any case, it's all well documented, and all straightforward.
In terms of deployment times, we figure for AP it's an hour and a half, so you can just figure in that as the base amount of time you need for each AP and that includes configuration and installation. Therefore, if you have 20 APs, it's about 30 hours for 25 APs and that's setting up the controller virtual, or Cloud-based, setting up the AP, the SSIDs, passwords, 802.1X., and then physically mounting them.
What was our ROI?
The solution definitely offers my clients a good ROI after they implement it.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
They don't really need to be cheaper. They're not the most expensive, and they're not the least expensive. They're right there in the middle.
What other advice do I have?
We're a reseller as well as a customer.
We're running the latest software. We deploy through a controller and we use 802.1X. There're multiple ways to deploy to customers. There's a cloud controller, for example. We typically do a virtual controller on their systems.
If a company is new to Ruckus, it's best to work with a partner. You need somebody that knows what they're doing, and knows what questions to ask so that you're getting the right information. When I go to do an implementation, I've got a list of 50 different questions. I'll ask somebody, what about this? What about this? What about this? It will help with the implementation process if someone has a complete view of what to ask for and what to do.
You get what you pay for. People will throw in Linksys, and this other stuff. If you're a business, say you're a coffee shop and you have 50 customers sitting there. You want all of them to get the same performance all the time. I want to make sure everybody gets an equal amount of time without anybody getting any interruptions.
With Linksys and Ubiquiti and all these other brands, you don't get that. When it comes to the head-to-head competition, the Ruckus far out-shines them. Ten to one, you just can't compete. When they say it's going to do something, it does it. They don't put documentation out that is misleading. If it says it'll do 1,024 clients it'll do 1,024 clients. If it says it'll do 4.3 gigabytes, it'll do 4.3 gigabytes. It's great.
Overall, I would rate the solution at a nine out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Private Cloud
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Buyer's Guide
Download our free Ruckus Wireless Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros
sharing their opinions.
Updated: April 2026
Product Categories
Wireless LANPopular Comparisons
Aruba Wireless
Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN
Juniper Mist Wireless Access Points
Cisco Wireless
Huawei Wireless
Ubiquiti WLAN
Fortinet FortiAP
Omada Access Points
Fortinet FortiWLM
Mist AI and Cloud
Aruba Access Points
Aruba Instant
ExtremeWireless
D-Link Wireless
Aruba Instant On Access Points
Buyer's Guide
Download our free Ruckus Wireless Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros
sharing their opinions.
Quick Links
Learn More: Questions:
- What is the best high-performance Wireless LAN device?
- What is the biggest difference between Ruckus Wireless and Cisco Meraki Wireless?
- Which wireless controller has maximum client connectivity and high throughput?
- What is the biggest difference between Aruba Wireless and Ruckus Wireless?
- What is the biggest difference between Cisco Wireless and Ruckus Wireless?
- What are the biggest differences between Ruckus Wireless, Aruba Wireless, and Cisco Wireless?
- Which is better - Ruckus Wireless or Cisco Wireless?
- Aruba Wireless or Ruckus Wireless?
- How does Ruckus Wireless compare to Cisco Meraki Wireless LAN?
- When evaluating Wireless LANs, what aspect do you think is the most important to look for?













