Ruckus rolls out 802.11n for multi-streamers

Ruckus Wireless, the vendor that led the deployment of WiFi in support of IPTV services for about 140 carriers, has launched its new 802.11n MediaFlex 7000 solution system. The system is aimed at supporting the next generation in the residential IPTV evolution--multiple streams of TV content shared among devices throughout the home. Belgian telco Belgacom is the first announced carrier customer for the system.

The new platform support 50 Mbps bandwidth, and uses the vendor's BeamFlex technology to steer signal streams around the customer home. "Everybody wants HD and whole-home DVR these days and that means 40 Mbps is table stakes," said David Callisch, vice president of marketing at Ruckus Wireless.

Providers of wireline-based home network systems are always quick to allege that wireless systems can't support bandwidth and service quality demands, but Callisch told FierceIPTV that carriers' trust of wireless for support of IPTV content has grown--though they also are insistent about having vendors prove the reliability of their systems. "People will use wireless for this as long as it doesn't drop packets," Callisch said. "For our testing, Belgacom wanted us to run the system for 48 hours without a dropped packet."

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Ruckus Wireless made our Fierce 15 list back in 2006. Ruckus report
Home network technologies were hot at NXTcomm. Home network report