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 !

[michael_brado]

Dear Primož

 

Once again, thank you for being a champion in the Ruckus
Wireless Forums.

 

Per your request, I’ve restored your post: https://forums.ruckuswireless.com/ruckuswireless/topics/zd3000-and-r700-limits-at-a-large-public-eve...


 

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business, as one of our champions, we hope that you will continue to support
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-- specifically the section “Keep it Nice.”

 

Though we have restored your post, we would be grateful if
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[primoz_marinsek]

So there was a problem with my earlier reply that I would like to clarify.

Fact is that marketing ant technical usually see things from different perspectives which is understandable since their jobs are different. Technical needs too make things work and marketing needs to present the company in the most positive frame. Nothing is wrong as far as marketing is concerned and that can lead to false representation of actual facts.

Usually that means the difference between fact and fiction which in this case is the 500 users count per AP. Sure an app can have 500, ney 512, but the real question is do you want this. Personally I'd say no. In fact I'd say that's a recipe for failure. I know this because I've been down this road before and I don't want others to follow.

My reply was not directed at Ruckus directly or anyone person there, As every vendor it's doing exactly the same thing and hiring them selves in the process.

Anyone from Ruckus that has met me knows I'm one of your biggest fans and you make by far the best APs, but a bad design is a bad design and deploying apps in an environment like that will not produce a satisfactory result.

Now you can delete any of my replies, fine. Just know that every reply is meant with the intent of helping Ruckus as much as helping the user asking it.

[mark_hartmann_7]

There are limits to what a controller will support as well as a radio itself. there is a 128 user limit when authentication is used ( chip limitation ) there is a limit put on the ZD based on what it's memory and processor will support. Additionally, in any larger public event the general rule of thumb is 20-30% of the users will be on the wifi at any time.
 Directional antennas such as the -S or -N will allow you to put more AP's in a given space while keeping co-channel interference to a minimum. You can also do other things like using the people and building structure to attenuate the signal and again be able to add more AP's. a few other tricks to support large venue's are setting the controller to OFDM only, turn off some of the 2.4 ghz radios,  limiting your 5ghz radio to 20mhz channels so you can have more non overlapping channels, turn on load balancing and steer clients to 5ghz.
hope this helps....

[mark_hartmann_7]

There are limits to what a controller will support as well as a radio itself. there is a 128 user limit when authentication is used ( chip limitation ) there is a limit put on the ZD based on what it's memory and processor will support. Additionally, in any larger public event the general rule of thumb is 20-30% of the users will be on the wifi at any time.
 Directional antennas such as the -S or -N will allow you to put more AP's in a given space while keeping co-channel interference to a minimum. You can also do other things like using the people and building structure to attenuate the signal and again be able to add more AP's. a few other tricks to support large venue's are setting the controller to OFDM only, turn off some of the 2.4 ghz radios,  limiting your 5ghz radio to 20mhz channels so you can have more non overlapping channels, turn on load balancing and steer clients to 5ghz.
The R700 has the fastest processor and will support the most users with 9.8.2.0.24 or newer code until the R710 ships.
hope this helps....

[primoz_marinsek]

Hey now. Why did you delete my post? Undo it please.