High-Density RF Optimization in ruckus r750 Unleaded Dedicated Master

[Pintu]

Hi Team,

I am deploying Ruckus R650 APs in a high-density environment (~5000 users) in a large hall (approx 3000 x 6000 ft).

What are the recommended RF tuning best practices for this scenario?

Specifically:

- Ideal channel width for 5 GHz (20/40/80 MHz)
- Auto vs manual channel selection
- Recommended Tx power levels
- Minimum RSSI and data rate settings
- Band steering and airtime fairness recommendations

Looking for real-world deployment guidance.

Thanks.

[vanith]

What software are you deploying this with? 
Ruckus One? SmartZone? or Ruckus Unleashed?

R650's are meant more for smaller areas, 4x4 antennas are okay, but a large hall?
R850's are a better option for the 8x8 radios

What does your placement look like? On the walls?
How many AP's are we talking about? 
How many SSID's? if it's just 1, then you'll be fine (but it's not normally)
Ekahau has a lot of options that allow you to design it with a map that you can test out deployment and options along with placement

•  Ideal channel width for 5 GHz (20/40/80 MHz)

That depends, are all of the 5,000 people going to need Internet as well? How much bandwidth do they need?

Remember that a 20 Mhz band gives 150 Mbps up/down
What amount of bandwidth does every person need?

You can go with auto channel selection with ChannelFly scanning
Minimum RSSI and data rate settings - 24 Mbps

Power levels depend on Channel Interference and width you are going for

[Pintu]

Hi Vanith

Thanks for your insights.

We are currently deploying using Ruckus Unleashed with a dedicated master (R750).

Deployment Details:

• Environment: Large hall (~3000 x 6000 ft)
• Users: Up to ~2500 concurrent clients
• AP Model: Planning mix of R750 (primary) and evaluating upgrade from R650
• SSID Count: 2–3 SSIDs (Guest + Internal + possibly Event VLAN) total 3 SSID
• Placement: wall-mounted ( distributed grid layout for even coverage}
• Softerar using -Unleashed Dedicated Master
• Total R650 AP-45  Nos

Design Considerations:

• We understand R650 (4x4) may not be ideal for this density, hence evaluating R750 / R850 (8x8) for better capacity and spatial streams.
• We are aiming to optimize for high client density rather than just coverage.

RF Strategy:

• 5 GHz Channel Width: Planning to use 20 MHz for better reuse and reduced co-channel interference in high-density scenario
• Channel Management: Using ChannelFly initially, may fine-tune manually after survey
• Minimum Data Rate: Set to 24 Mbps to eliminate low-speed clients
• Minimum RSSI: Around -65 to -67 dBm
• Transmit Power: Will be tuned based on interference and cell overlap (not max power)

Bandwidth Planning:

• Assuming average 11 Mbps per user, total requirement will be significant, so upstream bandwidth is also being planned accordingly.
• Total Bandwidth 10g