Originally posted by Westron Communications

The frequency that handles your Wi-Fi signal is a busy place, sharing the 2.4 Gigahertz band with Bluetooth, cordless phones, baby monitors, car alarms, microwave ovens and more. So you can imagine the weight that piece of wireless real estate must hold when attempting to send a signal to dozens, hundreds, or even thousands of devices at once.

Ever wonder why you have a full Wi-Fi signal in one corner of your office, but suddenly lose that signal when you move across the room? Current Wi-Fi signals function like a light bulb, sending energy in all directions, rather than directing it toward the device that needs the energy.

Ruckus Wireless has created smart Wi-Fi that works off of small antennas to direct the signal to the device that needs it, rather than wasting Wi-Fi signals by sending them all over a room.

It’s that smart Wi-Fi technology that has propelled Ruckus into the mobile space, a market over-saturated with wireless devices all trying to get the same signal, and frustrated users dealing with dramatically slowed Internet speeds.

3G networks are buckling under the demand for mobile Internet service, but Ruckus smart Wi-Fi routers are being installed in places where there are lots of people using cell phones.  The use of the routers can offload large amounts of traffic at peak times and in peak areas.

This article on xconomy.com cites PCCW, Hong Kong’s leading telecom company, which has been installing Ruckus Wi-Fi routers in phone booths in areas with high pedestrian traffic. PCCW has seen as much as 20% offload during peak times.

Offloading to a router can free up 3G networks for call use, driving data traffic to Wi-Fi.

We have been seeing end-user organizations struggling with poor performance of wireless networks, particularly in crowded areas such as San Francisco, Dallas, New York. As companies depend more on smart phones to transact business, the wild variations in service level become more frustrating. 4G networks provide better throughput and are better suited to smart phone traffic, but are very limited in footprint at this time.

3G offload is a great solution where the carriers support it. For example, a Verizon cell phone contract might allow the user to use the Wi-Fi resources at just about every airport, retail store, etc., as Verizon would rather users browse the Internet via Wi-Fi than their 3G network in places where there are a concentration of cell phones.

This same technology is an advantage when we lay out Wi-Fi networks for institutions such as health care, colleges, and cities where there is the opportunity for large gatherings of people equipped with smartphones, iPads, notebook computers, etc.

Ruckus has a better approach to providing this offload service than many competing products, and can do so with fewer access points, lower maintenance costs, and centralized management and control. We expect to see Ruckus penetrate this market quickly.

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