project focus
Natural beauty Previously, Malvern Showground relied on a wired network of fixed BT lines which ran to all of its entry gates. Excess cabling detracted from the natural beauty of the site and the solution simply did not deliver the flexibility required. In contrast, the Ruckus Wi-Fi network is discreet and allows exhibitors to move freely around the site with their Wi-Fi enabled devices such as point-of-sale machines – enabling them to re-assign their staff to the areas they’re needed most as conditions change throughout the day. The new network also makes it easier for security officials to monitor the CCTV system at the showground. Because the Ruckus access points (APs) mesh automatically, staff can easily add new cameras as soon as they identify an area that needs additional coverage. Developed to fill an unmet market requirement for a
more adaptive, reliable and economical outdoor Wi-Fi solution that can be centrally managed as part of an overall indoor/outdoor wireless LAN infrastructure, the new Ruckus Smart Wi-Fi outdoor products are ideally suited for showgrounds needing to:
• Provide reliable Wi-Fi access to outdoor hot zones. • Seamlessly extend wireless LAN (WLAN) services to areas where Ethernet cabling is not available outdoors to enable use of CCTV, point of sale devices and Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) systems etc.
• Improve mobile user experience by offloading data traffic from increasingly congested 3G cellular networks.
Pole, ceiling or wall mounted, the Ruckus APs can be deployed as standalone APs, managed by the Ruckus ZoneDirector Smart WLAN controller as part of a unified indoor/outdoor wireless LAN system. ‘The dual-band Ruckus solution is the only outdoor
11n product we’ve come across that can reliably support this vast number of concurrent users over such a large area at a truly cost effective price,’ says Tom McInerney, events director for Etherlive. ‘When you’re outdoors, any number of things can interfere with the wireless signal because the environment is constantly changing. The Ruckus kit overcomes this problem with an intelligent mesh code that adapts automatically to choose the best path and best access point, redirecting signals as issues occur, and thereby avoiding any interference before it can cause problems. This, of course, has massive user benefits in terms of the time it takes to deploy and run a network of this size too, since we can trust the network to essentially run itself with minimal management.’
Key locations The Malvern Showground deployment consists of 13 Ruckus 7762 dual-band 802.11n Smart Wi-Fi APs and a centralised ZoneDirector 1000 Smart WLAN controller. The APs are housed in specially designed, weather proofed points of delivery (PODs) on telegraph poles and building corners across the site. To create the network, Etherlive simply placed PODs at key locations across the site and waited for the APs to self-organise into a mesh. Once the network had been checked and tested for faults using the centralised Ruckus ZoneDirector controller, it was ready for use. Now that the Ruckus network is up and running, it can be easily scaled as usage increases. It has also been securely partitioned to provide a public wireless network for visitors and exhibitors which is chargeable, and a private network linked to the Three Counties corporate
LAN providing access to their network from anywhere on the site. The networks are protected with separate Service Set Identifiers (SSIDs) to give peace of mind that all information remains secure and segregated at all times. Another key consideration for Malvern Showground
was that the new permanent wireless network must be capable of supporting critical applications without the risk of network failure. Etherlive advised the showground to deploy the Ruckus 802.11n system because it was the only centrally managed concurrent 2.4/5GHz 802.11n Wi- Fi solution capable of delivering a reliable signal at range across such a vast outdoor environment. As well as the Ruckus Wireless technology, Etherlive has also developed a power management system with redundant 48 hour battery backup which ensures the network keeps running should on site power or generators fail.
Dynamic beamforming Pioneered by Ruckus Wireless, dynamic beamforming is the latest Wi-Fi innovation that automatically directs transmissions to the best performing signal path on a per packet basis using real time feedback mechanisms inherent in the 802.11 protocol. The ability to adapt to changes in the RF environment on-the-fly results in three- to-four-fold improvement in range/performance while providing wire-like reliability. In an outdoor Wi-Fi mesh, dynamic beamforming APs on both ends of every mesh link essentially eliminate performance variability on the mesh backbone. In addition, they deliver enhanced hot zone user experience by erasing dead spots, ensuring reliable connections and providing stable performance across the service area. Dynamic beamforming also dramatically improves indoor signal penetration, making the new Ruckus outdoor APs ideally suited for providing high speed wireless access both inside and outside at the Malvern Showground.
Ruckus’ dual-band 802.11n Smart Wi-Fi outdoor AP supports both 802.3af and 802.3at power over Ethernet, is IP-67 rated for water and dust and operates in temperatures ranging from -40°C to 65°C (-40°F to 149°F). The AP provides an additional power over Ethernet output port that can be used to connect and power devices such as an IP camera without additional cabling. An integrated heater provides non-stop operation in cold climates.
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The Malvern Showground deployment consists of 13 Ruckus 7762 dual-band 802.11n Smart Wi-Fi APs and a centralised ZoneDirector 1000 Smart WLAN controller.
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