Ruckus developed its patented antenna-control software with home entertainment and hospitality in mind, but later added products for small and medium-sized companies. Ruckus says its beam-forming system delivers faster and more stable wireless connections while requiring less setup and maintenance.

Cisco recently launched its own access points with beam-forming. The technology takes advantage of multiple antennas to aim radio waves from an access point in the direction of the client that's communicating. Ruckus says its beam-forming system rejects interference better and can direct a beam on a packet-by-packet basis, plus use ongoing feedback from the client to fine-tune the connection.

On Monday, Ruckus will introduce a high-capacity access point and a controller designed for larger enterprises and for specialized customers such as hospitals, hotels and schools. The ZoneFlex 7962 access point is the first from Ruckus to use dual-band IEEE 802.11n technology, which can utilize both the 2.4GHz and 5.8GHz spectrum bands simultaneously. The 19 antennas housed within the access point can arrange themselves in 4,000 different combinations to create effective beams, the company said. The access point can run on standard 802.3af Power over Ethernet.

The new ZoneDirector 3500 controller can manage 32 separate wireless LANs with as many as 500 access points, up from 250 for the biggest existing box from Ruckus.

Enterprises want Wi-Fi to be more like a utility than a mere supplement to wired networks for convenience, but current products can't meet that need because of cost and fluctuating performance, according to David Callisch, vice president of marketing at Ruckus. Because of its beam-forming technology, Ruckus equipment can deliver steadier speed than competing products and do so with fewer access points and controllers, he said.