Seems like the AP6/Pro by Alta is a great product. I can’t find any comparisons to Ruckus yet.
Does anyone have any anecdotal experience with Ruckus and the AP6 series in terms of, primarily, range?
I’m asking from the perspective of users that would buy used R510/R610 APs, use Unleashed firmware, and are willing to sacrifice wifi 6 until prices lower (or buy a R550/R650+). This would be for home use, 1/2 APs max. I understand Ruckus utilizes a different antenna technology and is generally multiple times higher in price.
I’m just on the fence and I feel like this information would be useful to me and most assuredly others looking into their options.
Note: I would almost certainly go for Alta due to pricing/feature velocity aside from the inability to manage my network completely locally. I’m hoping for the best though! (In regards to local management posts on the forums)
I can only speak from having run Ruckus R350 unleashed (2X2 Wifi-6) for a while. Compared to those the AP6 Pros are miles ahead. Range, speed, and reliability are much hither on the AP6 Pros. I also had problems with the Ruckus APs being too sticky with clients, even after tuning. Roaming was always a challenge. Wi-Fi calling never worked either. Google searching will show a lot of others having frustrations with that.
You will find the Alta team is also extremely active on this forum, and willing to listen to ideas and needs of their user base.
I can’t speak to the R510s or 610s. Maybe someone else can chime in on those.
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I could say something about the Ruckus R750. I tested it a year ago.
The wifi range was usable. I only had one, which is why I can’t say anything about roaming.
But some features were missing for me and then the ZoneDirector 1205 hardware controller was discontinued. So it never became a bigger project.
I find the price/performance ratio at Alta Labs much better.
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I replaced a Ruckus R510 in my home with the AP6-Pro. The range is slightly better (My AP is mounted on a wall, so not ideal. I think if it were ceiling mounted it would be 30% better range.) and the speeds are obviously much better since we are comparing a generational gap in technology. The AP6-Pro “just works” really well, there is not much fine tuning that you can do…or that needs to be done.
I have not tested roaming capabilities, as my home is too small to really do that. I will open up the AP6-Pro to my installs, if they do not want to pay for Ruckus.
I just recently did an install with 12 (?) or more, I honestly forget, Ruckus R750, and that has been working really well. The roaming is fantastic, and the speeds are 600+Mbps anywhere in the 20,000sqft building. I would love to be able to deploy an AP6-Pro in a situation like that, but I am not 100% confident in that right now.
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What do you think @Ethan-DDI Happy with our roaming capabilities? Any suggestions for improvements?
I had absolutely severe deja vu. I read my own comment and thought, “Huh, that looks really familiar and describes my experience…” Then I looked at who wrote it, and it was me…
I have had two AP6 Pros in my house for the better part of 4-5 months. My house is super tiny (think tiny home), so I don’t even really need two…but I have them for testing so why not. Range is roughly half of a Ruckus R750, but basically on par with a R510/R550. Roaming on an entire Unleashed network is really good. Roaming on two of these AP6 Pros is a little interesting. It seems some devices like to stick to one AP until I turn WiFi off/on and then it will register to the closer one. Again, my APs are probably too close together and I really should adjust the power a bit better.
Overall, I would say the experience has been similar with Ruckus. Ruckus performs much better than the AP6 Pro (speed, throughput, interference, etc), but we are also not comparing two products in the same price category. I am trying to get my current company to deploy Alta for the entire warehouse (speaker manufacture), but I am being beat over the head by our MSP/IT department.
Overall, very satisfied with the networking with the AP6 Pro. I just can’t wait for an AP7, whatever router comes out, PoE-powered switches, etc. I got a lot of hope. 
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Roaming standards really are just suggestions, and most client devices have pre-determined thresholds that if they aren’t met, they are less likely to roam even if another AP is closer. Designing a mobility domain properly is rather nuanced.
I can’t say I’ve checked most manufacturers websites recently, but Apple is the only one I know off-hand which actually publishes this info: About wireless roaming for enterprise - Apple Support
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Yea, those devices that “stuck” were iPhones and iPads. Most of my Android devices or laptops worked fine. Overall, good experience.
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