topic Ruckus T310c Mounting Recommendation in Access Points - Indoor and Outdoor

Ruckus T310c Mounting Recommendation

david_henriques — Wed, 10 Feb 2021 11:44:54 GMT

Hello,

I would like to know what is the best way to mount the Ruckus T310c to provide a good omni directional radiation.

There is any information regarding this subject? I can see in the installation guide it is possible to mount the device in horizontal and vertical way.

If it is mounted in a vertical way (in a pole) it will have the same omnidirectional radiation if it was installed in horizontal position?

Regards,

David Henriques

Re: Ruckus T310c Mounting Recommendation

DarrelRhodes — Wed, 10 Feb 2021 11:54:16 GMT

Hi David,

Due to BeamFlex+ having vertical and horizontal polarised elements, Ruckus omni-directional APs are more capable in vertical deployments, than other vendor's APs.

However it is intended for the T310c to be mounted horizontally (with the dome facing down) for maximum signal coverage.

There were some good visualisations in the ZF7762 user guide - I'll try to dig them out for you and post here.

Hope that helps,
Darrel.

Re: Ruckus T310c Mounting Recommendation

DarrelRhodes — Wed, 10 Feb 2021 12:52:21 GMT

I've found the document here: https://support.ruckuswireless.com/documents/418-zoneflex-7762-dual-band-802-11n-outdoor-access-point-installation-guide

Please see screenshot images for reference, I hope they help!

Best,
Darrel.

Re: Ruckus T310c Mounting Recommendation

david_henriques — Wed, 10 Feb 2021 13:00:11 GMT

Hello Darrel,

Many thanks for your quick reply and support, these images cleared my doubts 🙂

Re: Ruckus T310c Mounting Recommendation

david_henriques — Wed, 10 Feb 2021 14:25:58 GMT

One more thing about this. So if the AP is installed in a vertical position the typical circular range of 90 meters it is affected?

Re: Ruckus T310c Mounting Recommendation

DarrelRhodes — Wed, 10 Feb 2021 14:28:05 GMT

Yes. If you look at the images above and see the horizontal installation is giving approx. 90m range 'Excellent Reach', when you turn it through 90 degrees and install in a vertical orientation, you can see the range is much lower 'Good Reach'.

Re: Ruckus T310c Mounting Recommendation

david_henriques — Wed, 10 Feb 2021 14:29:40 GMT

In "Good Reach" represents how many meters?

Re: Ruckus T310c Mounting Recommendation

DarrelRhodes — Wed, 10 Feb 2021 14:31:32 GMT

Unfortunately that's impossible to answer!

Too much depends on the client, the frequency, the environment, interference and many other factors.

You can use a planning software such as Ekahau or use an AP-on-a-stick and test in the real-world.

Thanks,
Darrel.

Re: Ruckus T310c Mounting Recommendation

david_henriques — Wed, 10 Feb 2021 14:40:07 GMT

Thanks for this information I will check those tools perform some testing :).

Re: Ruckus T310c Mounting Recommendation

eizens_putnins — Thu, 11 Feb 2021 09:30:03 GMT

Just makes sense to comment:

limited reach is really limited -- you can't expect normal signal from the back side of AP.

Mounting AP vertically you don't get 360 degree omni-directional diagram, but 180 degree diagram. It is mainly applicable for long venues or other specific conditions.

Horizontal mounting provides excellent coverage for biggest area, because you get good coverage under AP (where distance is smaller) and also on the edge (where Beamflex improves signal level most).

Re: Ruckus T310c Mounting Recommendation

david_henriques — Thu, 11 Feb 2021 15:21:07 GMT

Many thanks for the comment eizens, we integrated the Ruckus T310c in our smart pole and it almost in a vertical position so we need to pay attention to which area we want to have a good signal in a street.

Re: Ruckus T310c Mounting Recommendation

eizens_putnins — Fri, 12 Feb 2021 07:58:47 GMT

T310c/d isn't exactly fully omnidirectional, it has 360x180 degrees antenna diagram.

When T310c or d is put horizontally, it has 360 degree diagram in horizontal plain, and 180 degree in vertical, so if you put it vertically, diagram turns accordingly -- there is no signal coming from AP back side. Similar with directional s and n versions (30x120 and 30x30), coverage depends on antenna orientation.

Re: Ruckus T310c Mounting Recommendation

DarrelRhodes — Fri, 12 Feb 2021 09:16:44 GMT

Eizens,

No antenna is fully omn-directional (360°x360°) beamwidth in both H and V planes. Such an antenna is only a theoretical 'isotropic' antenna. https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/computer-science/omnidirectional-antenna

Every omni directional antenna I've ever used or dealt with; is 360 degrees in the horizontal plane and depending on the antenna gain, varying degrees on the vertical plane.

E.g. A very high gain (>10dBi) omni-directional antenna will be only single-digit degrees in the vertical plane. E.g. This L-COM omni-directional antenna is "perfect for wide 360° coverage" but has only 8-degrees vertical beam width.

Thanks,
Darrel.

Re: Ruckus T310c Mounting Recommendation

eizens_putnins — Sun, 14 Feb 2021 15:02:35 GMT

Darrel, you are correct, of cause, there is no in reality an ideal "isotropic" antenna. I was not saying that anyway.

I just tried to emphasize what is real diagram of Ruckus omni AP, as often people see AP as miraculous box which "provides coverage" without understanding that there are antennas and physical principles are the same for any device, even if you don't see any antennas connected to AP.

Ruckus omni AP diagram (and working principle) is very different from what mentioned by you typical static omni antennas (which usually have 360 degrees in H plain and 30-10 degrees in vertical, with or without tilt).

This is typical misunderstanding about how Ruckus AP antenna field works. Ruckus doesn't use static antennas.

Re: Ruckus T310c Mounting Recommendation

eizens_putnins — Sun, 14 Feb 2021 15:03:00 GMT

Ruckus uses patented antenna system, which contains multiple elements (up to 16) for each antenna, as well additional chip and antenna element switch. Chip identifies best pattern for each associated client and maintains antenna configuration table with client MACs. Antenna element switch actually connects elements in proper way to create antenna pattern for each packet, this configuration is done in real-time - packet-by-packet. It's named Beamflex, and it is really additional hardware and antennas, not just marketing name as other vendors like to have it.

So Ruckus AP antenna is actually configured differently for each client and for that client it is not omni at all, it is slightly directional (up to 6 db gain). It is omni only from point of view, that all clients in antenna diagram get same gain. Beamflex also optimizes antenna polarization, which is even more important, than gain itself for mobile devices.

2x2 dual-band AP has 4 such antenna fields, 1 for each transmitter in each band. 8x8 AP has 16. This makes the difference.

So this is how Ruckus can have diagram 180x360 degrees - it is not diagram of antenna, but diagram of antenna gain provided for clients. Actually in vertical plain clients near edges get even slightly higher gain, as antenna elements can be combined more efficiently -- which is beneficial for signal level on longer range.

Re: Ruckus T310c Mounting Recommendation

eizens_putnins — Sun, 14 Feb 2021 15:16:39 GMT

Example of diagrams (directivity diagram for AP and real antenna configuration for client)

Re: Ruckus T310c Mounting Recommendation

david_henriques — Mon, 22 Mar 2021 12:03:15 GMT

Great information here eizens!