Case Study: Roaring Fork School District achieves high-performance, future-proof district-wide 802.11ac Wave 2 Wi‑Fi with RUCKUS Networks

Ruckus Wireless Deploys Wave 2 for Greater Performance

Roaring Fork School District (RFSD), serving 5,700 students across 11 PreK–12 schools in Glenwood Springs, Carbondale and Basalt, faced inadequate coverage and capacity from legacy Wi‑Fi as mobile devices, digital curricula and a planned 1:1 Chromebook initiative increased demand. With a limited IT staff and tight budgets, the district needed a high‑performance, low‑total‑cost wireless solution that could scale for BYOD, voice and video while requiring minimal ongoing support.

RFSD partnered with Vall Technologies to deploy Ruckus ZoneFlex R710 access points and a ZoneDirector 3000 controller, upgrading to 802.11ac Wave 2 with MU‑MIMO and smart antennas. The five‑day rollout across all schools increased throughput and concurrent client capacity (supporting roughly 3:1 devices per user), simplified management, added secure 802.1x and guest/public SSIDs, and future‑proofed the network—delivering reliable, district‑wide Wi‑Fi at a low cost of ownership and enabling expanded digital learning.

Roaring Fork School District

Jeff Gatlin

Chief Operating Officer