Wireless Access: Ruckus Drives Wi-Fi Innovations for Hospitality Market

Delivering wireless access, Ruckus, a part of Brocade, has announced its fourth generation wall-mounted access point (AP) designed to provide hotel guests with fast, reliable Wi-Fi.

The Ruckus H320 all-in-one AP and switch features the latest 802.11ac Wave 2 technology, enabling guests to simultaneously connect multiple devices to hotel Wi-Fi networks. The AP also allows property managers to connect wired devices such as VoIP telephones and IP-ready televisions without dedicated per-device cabling.

Designed for deployment in every hotel room, the H320 AP delivers the required quality of service (QoS) to meet guest requirements for high-performing Wi-Fi to support their business and personal needs.

“Today’s travelers expect reliable, high-performance Wi-Fi to support multiple devices, each loaded with bandwidth-hungry apps,” said Ted Watson, vice president, global hospitality and multi-dwelling unit solutions, Ruckus. “The Ruckus H320 AP and switch allows hotels to meet these expectations by including an AP in every room—an unrealistic financial option until now. The flexibility and affordability of the solution will revolutionize the guest Wi-Fi experience throughout the hospitality industry.”

Ruckus offers an industry-leading portfolio of in-room, wall-mounted, all-in-one APs and switches. The addition of the H320 AP rounds out a complete suite of wall-mounted devices that fit into any hospitality environment. The H320 AP is a cost-effective alternative to the full-featured, IoT-ready H510 AP and the DOCSIS-enabled, wall-mounted C110 AP and switch for use in hotels where only coax is available.

“In today’s competitive hospitality environment, our guests depend on and demand fast and reliable Wi-Fi. Ruckus Wi-Fi has proved itself a guest favorite,” said Jason Greene, information technology officer, Maine Course Hospitality Group. “Our properties equipped with Ruckus solutions are top performers in guest satisfaction, outperforming those that are using other solutions. Ruckus is our go-to Wi-Fi solution.”

The H320 AP and switch is based on the 802.11ac Wave 2 technology—the highest-performance Wi-Fi standard—to satisfy steadily increasing in-room bandwidth requirements. It includes two fast Ethernet ports to enable connectivity for any wired in-room IP device, including IPTV, VoIP phones and IP cameras.

“Guest expectations and behaviors are continually changing and high-quality Wi-Fi is an investment with tremendous potential for hotels,” said Jim Duffy, senior network analyst, 451 Research. “As the hospitality market begins implementing technologies such as IoT and robotics, Wi-Fi will become a hotel ecosystem requirement.”

Ruckus will be showcasing the new offering in booth 1829 at the Hospitality Industry Technology Exposition and Conference (HITEC) in Toronto, June 26-29, 2017.