SUNNYVALE, CA – February 4, 2016 – Ruckus Wireless, Inc. (NYSE: RKUS) announced today it has supplied next-generation Smart Wi-Fi technology and products for Evangel University. Ruckus’ 802.11ac Wave 2 Wi-Fi solution provides students and faculty with a scalable, innovative high-density infrastructure that has transformed education both inside and outside the classroom.
Evangel University in Springfield, Missouri serves more than 2,200 students and 400 faculty and staff and is spread over 100 acres. There are 1,100 students living on campus in seven dorms.
Due to a high student and faculty complaint volume regarding the insufficient legacy Wi-Fi, Evangel recognized the need for a robust, scalable, reliable Wi-Fi infrastructure in classrooms, across campus and in dorms to enable students to connect with one another and faculty, conduct research and participate in online learning.
To provide state-of-the-art, adaptive infrastructure, Evangel University decided to leave the final purchasing decision to an on-campus competition between Ruckus and another supplier. The university conducted an on-site demo to reflect real-world experience, using two identical dorms as a testing ground. Ruckus Wireless and another equipment provider each deployed their Wi-Fi in one of the dorms for 6 to 8 weeks. Student feedback and network performance data was collected and analyzed, with Ruckus emerging as the winner.
"We used to receive daily student complaints about on-campus Wi-Fi. Since installing Ruckus' technology, we have not received one," Gary Blackard, chief information officer at Evangel University. "With Ruckus, we were able to get the performance and coverage we needed. Now students can easily connect with multiple devices at the same time. At the CIO level, this was one of the smoothest implementations I have seen in a long time."
"We are excited to be able help Evangel University meet their students’ expectation for robust, high quality, reliable Wi-Fi," said Greg Beach, vice president of product management, Ruckus Wireless, Inc. "We know that students take Wi-Fi capabilities into account when choosing a college, and being able to provide campus-wide mobility enables a better, more connected learning experience."
To ensure a reliable network that meets their high density needs, Evangel installed 335 of Ruckus’ ZoneFlex R710 access points throughout the campus, delivering a major increase in Wi-Fi performance and range. The R710 delivers up to 5dB of signal gain and is backwards compatible with existing Wi-Fi clients. With a 4x4:4 802.11ac functionality and MU-MIMO that addresses the need of high density, this Wave 2 deployment helped drive down complaints and increase student and faculty satisfaction. To further enhance services, Evangel University also uses:
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- Ruckus ZoneDirector™ 3000 controllers to enable a network management system that was easy to deploy and manage
- Ruckus Dynamic PSK™ technology to build out a seamless onboarding solution
- Ruckus SmartCell™ Insight data analytics platform to enable real-time network statistics and Big Data analytics
ABOUT RUCKUS WIRELESS
Ruckus Wireless delivers simply better wireless for more than 61,000 enterprise, service provider, government and small business customers worldwide. The company is focused on technology innovation, partner ecosystems and customer service — yielding the best possible wireless experience for the most challenging indoor and outdoor environments. Its Smart Wi-Fi platform delivers scalable, high-performance Wi-Fi with simplified control and management for on-premise and cloud-based Wi-Fi deployments, along with new services for secure on-boarding, policy management, location services and analytics that enable new business opportunities.
Ruckus, Ruckus Wireless, SmartCell, ZoneDirector and ZoneFlex and are trademarks of Ruckus Wireless, Inc. in the United States and other countries. All other product or company names may be trademarks of their respective owners.