ZD3000 and R700 limits at a large public event

[mihail_tudoran]

I am planning to supply WiFi for a large public event, about 10000 people present. I estimate that at least half will connect and use the WiFi service, this event will be hosted in a remote area and I only expect small amounts of interference, also the traffic levels will be small ( facebook, simple browsing )

I do have one ZD3000 with 25 Ap license and ten R700 access points, I am not sure about the client limit on the ZD3000 because I noticed that there is a 5000 clients limit but didn't understand where this limit applies. This limitation applies only to authenticated clients or the total number of clients regardless if they are connected to a open network ( no security or captive portal at all ) or using some kind of encryption or authentication ?

At this event I will host two WLAN's: one encrypted with WPA2 ( no user database, only a simple password ) that will host about 100 clients and one open network that will host the public with no encryption or password ( planning to use Vlan pooling in order to break the broadcast domains into smaller chunks ).

Because at this moment I only have 10 x R700 I am planning to get ten more in order to support the clients. I never tested one R700 at full capacity, is this AP capable of the 500 clients stated in the data sheet ? Will the performance degrade very much ?

Thanks !

[mihail_tudoran]

Hi Michael,

Let's say I upgrade to 100 APs version, this means the ZD3000 will still be limited to 5000 clients ?

As I said I do not plan to use authentication.

[michael_brado]

The ZD3000 supports up to 10,000 client connections (if you have enough APs).

[norcaledu]

Not to be a pain or restart this topic, but a ZD3000 will support 500 managed AP's. I'm just making sure it's clear in case someone comes along and reads this and gets confused.

[monnat_systems]

Yes, ZD3k is Capable of managing up to 500 ZoneFlex Smart Wi-Fi access points

[mihail_tudoran]

The number of AP is very clear in the specs, as for the number of supported clients this is specified very ambiguous. On the main page of the product it is stated "Concurrent Station Up to 10,000" this is not always true, it depends on the license you have, Ruckus should clearly state those limitations ( is this a marketing glitch ? ). Also should clearly explain when this limitation apply, for authenticated clients, for open clients, for what ?

Consider the following, I have the ZD3025 that have 25 licenses and another 25 R700 access points, let's assume one R700 can support 300 clients, this means a possibility of 7500 clients. In this case the ZD3025 will limit my capacity to 5000 clients and in order to exceed this limit I should pay a useless license of AP's that I will never use ? See document here: https://support.ruckuswireless.com/answers/000001444

I think this limitation should be clarified and clearly stated on the product specs.