Case Study: San Francisco Unified School District achieves reliable, high-capacity Wi‑Fi across 130+ schools with RUCKUS Networks

Smarter wireless that just works transforms the educational process in over 130 schools with tens of thousands of Wi-Fi users

The San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD) serves more than 55,000 students and 9,000 staff across 130+ K–12 schools, but its legacy wireless network couldn’t support modern classroom needs. Coverage was spotty and unreliable, performance and client capacity were insufficient for growing BYOD and testing demands, and many older buildings contained RF‑unfriendly materials—while a small networking team struggled to manage multiple controllers and complex configurations.

SFUSD standardized on a Ruckus ZoneFlex Smart Wi‑Fi solution, deploying roughly 1,500 dual‑band 802.11n/ac access points with redundant ZoneDirector 5000 controllers and seamless Active Directory/RADIUS integration for automated BYOD and policy enforcement. The upgrade eliminated coverage holes, tripled client throughput, routinely supports 10,000+ concurrent connections (100+ per AP), cut wireless management time in half, and delivered far stronger, more consistent Wi‑Fi across the district.

San Francisco Unified School District

Erik Heinrich

Director of Technology