Ruckus 7363, 7343, 7341 wireless access points and why

Ruckus has several access points in its portfolio. Whatever the indoor requirement is, one of them fits the bill. So I will try to explain the differences and limitations of the 7363, 7343 and 7341. Once the main differences become known between them, it soon comes to light that the AP\'s are simple to understand. So then it becomes easy to see which one to deploy where, when and why!

The Ruckus Wireless 7300 series comes in three flavours. All 3 look alike but serve a different requirement.

Here is a small but clear reference table for each Ruckus 7300 series access point and some of its features followed up by a brief description of them, knowing how to utilise those features, to know how to sell and advise on them, as well as use and benefit from them.

Wi-Fi technology

Details what frequencies and how many radios are in each access point. All three have 2.4Ghz radios integrated into their enclosure. The access points are fully backwards compatible with older legacy products that operate in the same frequency space. 2.4 GHz supports older standards known as 802.11 b/g, including the current standard of 802.11n.

The 7363 stands out on this feature as it also has an integrated 5Ghz radio alongside the 2.4Ghz antenna. So quite simply if the requirement is to have 5 GHz devices to have connectivity, the Ruckus 7363 (5 GHz also known as 802.11 a/n) is the solution. Wireless networks should be deployed with 5 GHz, as well as the common 2.4 GHz. This ensures that the network is future proof as more and more devices are now 5 GHz compatible. As 2.4 GHz only has 3 useable channels 1, 6 and 11 its extremely overcrowded, so the right advice is to, always aim and recommend dual band access points to offer 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz to users which the 7363 can offer.

So to summarise the 7343 and 7341 are only 802.11 b/g/n 2.4 GHz access points. The 7363 offer both frequencies 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz 802.11 a/b/g/n.

Radio Chains

All three have the same here 2 x 2 : 2, so let's clarify what the MIMO numbers mean. When we're talking about a 2x2:2 part, the first digit is the number of transmit chains, the second is the total number of receiving chains, and the third is the total number of data streams supported. A simpler description is, they are able to send data using two antennas, receive data over two antennas and also transmit two separate streams of data. This process also known as MIMO (multiple input, multiple output) which increases the throughput.

Antenna Elements & Combinations

Ruckus 7363, 7343 and 7341 has a compact antenna array with multiple elements, which can combine to form unique antenna patterns. Ruckus access points continuously learn the environment and work out the best path (direction) possible to ensure that the client device is getting the best possible connection, best explained - they find a path which has the least resistance and negative effects to the signal quality.

Ethernet Ports

All three AP's have a Gigabit Ethernet interface which are auto-sensing and fully compatible with the PoE (power over Ethernet) standard based 802.3 af. When powering the access points, always be aware of the maximum wattage required per access point, making sure that the switch providing the PoE has enough power to meet the AP's requirement. Some switches, although rare, are only capable of a capped amount of output power and can be under the required wattage, this tends to be on legacy switches.

The 7363 and 7343 also have 2 additional 10/100 Ethernet ports. These can be used to connect devices such as printers, scanners and cameras. Personally we used to think they were pointless and just fitted for specification weighting, increasing manufacturing costs, then one day we had a customer who had a remote printer that hardwiring to just was not viable. Suddenly the port provided a solution, since then on many occasions it has solved a problem.

The 7341 just has one Gigabit Ethernet interface which is auto-sensing and fully compatible with the PoE standard 802.3af.

Easy way to remember this is that the last number of the access point name is the amount of ports it has 7363 = 3 ports, 7341 = 1 port (no charge for that one

Polarization

All three are only vertically polarized. This was a shock as an access point with this level of performance would be expected to be dual polarized. However, surprisingly the Ruckus 7300 series can still out perform rivals even with singularly polarized antennas. The 7363, 7343 and 7341 are at the end of the day Ruckus's mid-range access points.

We have not had any issues to date from singular polarized AP's, but we still question and have doubts that access points with singular polarization can perform in high density deployments to other SISO (single input, single output) devices.

Ruckus Smart Mesh

All 3 models are capable of meshing. Meshing is perfect for getting too hard to reach cabling areas. Make sure when choosing to mesh to follow the industry best practises. Effectively they are not to do more than 3 hops. Also make sure to take throughput into account as every hop half\'s available throughput.

Band Steering

Band steering is when the Ruckus solution will try to make devices connect on their 5Ghz radios instead of 2.4Ghz. This is a must when designing systems for high capacity or in areas with lots of 2.4Ghz congestion. Having a band steering access points the solution will look to load balance users not only across different access points but also over the different radios. The 7363 is the only access points out of the 7363, 7343 and 7341 that will do it due to the 7363 being the only access points that are dual band. Ruckus Zone Directors are required in order to utilise band steering.

Concurrent Users

Having up to 65 users per radio on the 7363 wireless access points gives a total around 130 concurrent users. The 7341 and 7343 can only have up to 45 users as they only have one radio in them. Ruckus claim 15 users less per radio on their 7341 and 7343 as they have less antenna patterns and antennas than the 7363. Take these figures with a pinch of salt though as it should be taken into account that the available real throughout is 150Mbs per radio, per access point. They comfortably service 2 classrooms with one of the 7363 wireless access points servicing 30 users per classroom.