San José McEnery Convention Center

Delivering High-Capacity Wi-Fi for Silicon Valley's Premier Tech Events

SJ_LandingPage_ConventionCenter

Exterior of the San José McEnery Convention Center

When the San José McEnery Convention Center underwent a $130 million renovation and became the largest convention center in Silicon Valley, it was the perfect opportunity to upgrade its Wi-Fi technology and supporting infrastructure to meet the City of San José’s goal of delivering a free and ubiquitous Wi-Fi network that would attract premier tech events and allow thousands of attendees to stream uninterrupted.

Through a partnership with SmartWAVE Technologies and RUCKUS, the convention center deployed hundreds of indoor and outdoor dual-band RUCKUS Wi-Fi access points (AP) with smart, high-gain directional antennas for coverage and range in crowded public venues. To maintain a superior, seamless, and secure Wi-Fi experience throughout meeting spaces, exhibition halls, and adjacent hotels, they deployed a multi-gigabit fiber backbone using geographically dispersed, centrally managed RUCKUS ICX stackable switches and leveraged RUCKUS AI to monitor network health and meet SLAs. The unified RUCKUS wireless and wired network eliminates bottlenecks and facilitates setting custom, secure policies for different customers, making the San José McEnery Convention Center well-equipped to host big-name tech events. Following deployment, they even supported thousands of attendees simultaneously streaming at a premier gaming convention.

Fast Facts
  • Largest convention center in Silicon Valley
  • 367,526 square feet of total convention space
  • High-profile tech conferences
  • More than 1 million visitors annually
Challenges
  • Ensure reliable and secure Wi-Fi
  • Provide high-capacity coverage for a high-density public venue
  • Deliver improved signal strength and reach in a high-ceiling environment
Products
  • RUCKUS Wi-Fi 6 Indoor and Outdoor APs
  • RUCKUS ICX Stackable Access and Core Switches
  • RUCKUS SmartZone WLAN Controller
  • RUCKUS AI
Benefits
  • Increased technology revenue via reliable, high-throughput Wi-Fi
  • Simplified security and customization with centralized management
  • Supported streaming for thousands of attendees

To learn more about this project:

Download the full case study