Ruckus Wireless

The MediaFlex NG is the oddest looking, best performing Wi-Fi router on the market today.

The Ruckus MediaFlex NG is the best Wi-Fi router on the market today.

 

Not by a little bit – but by a wide margin.

Before I got the MediaFlex, I thought I had been happy with my home Wi-Fi system. 

 

It is located at the far end of my apartment and with the help of a high-gain antenna, I was able to get fair-to-good wireless coverage at the other end. Signal coverage in my bedroom, though, was hit or miss.

 

Following the instructions, I set up the MediaFlex with the same router name and security settings as the old box.  Within about five minutes my wireless network was back up and running.

 

The MediaFlex is an odd looking router.  It’s in an unusual, two-level enclosure.  On the bottom half there the usual signal lights up front and the WAN/LAN connections on the back.

Stacked on top is the proprietary antenna system, which gives the device a flying-saucer look.  There’s a constantly changing light display on the top to tell you that its busy aiming its Wi-Fi signal and directing it to where it is needed.  Ruckus calls their high-gain, six antenna system “BeamFlex.”

 

So now, with everything in place, it was time to give the new system a try. 

For the first time ever, I had Wi-Fi coverage in every nook and cranny of my home.   In spots where I used to have limited coverage I now have a solid signal.  And, in the places where wireless signal was good, I now have great coverage.  Everywhere in my home the little Wi-Fi indicator bars on all my wireless devices now show full signal.

 

I asked David Callisch, vice president of marketing for Ruckus, how they’re able to blanket my home with signal – when similar devices couldn’t.  

 

He told me that their system is based on technologies that form and steer beams of data.  The magic is in the MediaFlex’s software that constantly determine the best  antennas to use to shoot out Wi-Fi signals for each device in your home or office. 

 

“Basically, we examine every response we get back from the laptop (end device) to determine how the link is performing,” Callisch said. “ If we start to see errors, we immediately use another antenna pair. The result is a stronger signal that goes farther and is better able to handle delay sensitive traffic like streaming IP video.”

 

The MediaFlex NG excels at handling video throughout your home.  The device manages video separately from all other types of data and provides a nearly bulletproof system for Internet video streams from your broadband gateway to a set top box.

 

In their literature, Ruckus guarantees 20 Mbps of speed for streaming video throughout a typical 2,500- to 3,000-square-foot-home.

 

Put another way, this router supports up to three simultaneous DVD-quality standard definition video streams, six MPEG-4 SD streams or up to two HD-quality Windows Media Video (WMV) streams at the same time it handles data and voice applications. Those are pretty amazing claims.

 

In the United States, you can buy the MediaFlex NG from a select list of online resellers including MobilePlanet, Microcom Technology and others.

 

Prices run in the $120-150 range.  The Ruckus costs more than other Wi-Fi routers – but it does more – and is a far superior product.

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