Ruckus Wireless 7762, 7762-S or 7762-T - Which one is right for you

The Ruckus 7762 series are a high performance range of outdoor 802.11n Access points.

They are fully IP67 rated and are effectively the outdoor version of the truely awesome 7962.

The Ruckus 7762 comes in 3 different flavours and which one you need to pick will depend on your exact requirements.

• Ruckus Wireless ZoneFlex 7762
• Ruckus Wireless ZoneFlex 7762-S
• Ruckus Wireless ZoneFlex 7762-T

Below is a comparison table that I have put together to list some of the most important feature differences:

The Ruckus 7762 Family:

As you can see, there are some pretty major differences between the 3 different models and also some key similarities. All models are Dual Band, IP67 rated and make use of adaptive antenna technology. They also all have an internal heater (allowing them to survive temperatures of up to -40°C) and can be powered via PoE (using the supplied injector) or by using the 12v input. An example of when the 12v input comes in very useful is when powering via solar power.

Meshing

All 3 versions of the access point support Meshing on the 5GHz radio. This is achieved by using external 5GHz antennas (not included) and can provide real usable throughput of up to 150Mbps over distances of up to 300m. The 7762 family can also Mesh with the Ruckus 7962 indoor unit and provide advanced interference avoidance and rejection to help create stable, high performance connections. This is incredibly important in outdoor installations when wireless from surrounding networks can travel freely through the air over long distances and cause interference! 'What if you need to add a hop that is further than 300m?' I hear you say. Well not a problem.. simply use the PoE passthrough of the Ruckus 7762 and hook up a Ruckus 7731 bridge to create a hop of up to 15km!

But wait there are actually 5 versions of the 7762!

The 7762 and 7762-S also come in a service provider version. Cunningly named the 7762-AC and 7762-S-AC these 2 access points are the same as their non-AC equivalents but also sport a rather useful AC power input and single-mode fiber uplink (using optional Fiber Node Accessory). These are ideal for when you have a cable run of longer than 100m and/or you want to power off sources such as lamposts.

So which one should I use?

Well glad you asked, its actually nice and simple to choose!

If you need 2.4GHz and 5GHz coverage without the need to Mesh then pick the Ruckus 7762. Its internal 2.4GHz and 5GHz antennas will provide you with omni directional coverage and adaptive antenna goodness.

If you need 2.4GHz coverage only and/or wish to Mesh on the 5GHz radio (using external antenna) then pick the Ruckus 7762-T. This will give you the best possible omnidirectional 2.4GHz coverage as all of its internal antenna are dedicated to 2.4GHz allowing for many more combinations when the adaptive antenna array works its magic.

If you are mounting on a wall and only need coverage in one general direction… then the Ruckus 7762-S with its 2.4GHz 120° sector antenna array is the one for you.

If you require the option of AC power or fiber uplink then opt for either the 7762-AC for omni-directional coverage or the 7762-S-AC for concentrated sector coverage.

You get what you pay for!

The Ruckus 7762 certainly isn't one of the cheapest outdoor access points out there but it is certainly the most impressive one I have come across. Its high performance and abundance of useful features set it far apart from the competition and with 3 versions to pick from, one of them is sure to meet your needs!