Ruckus makes some noise with preconfigured switches for AV-over-IP networks

Ruckus Networks was once best known for being a wireless networking company. A lot has changed over the last several years, as corporate acquisitions have yielded additional assets and capabilities.

This week, Ruckus expanded its Pro AV ICX network switch portfolio with new capabilities to help organizations easily manage audio and video (AV) content over Ethernet networks. The new Pro AV ICX switches are AV-optimized and come preconfigured out of the box, offering broad compatibility with existing AV solutions and reducing configuration requirements. They can be managed through RUCKUS One, SmartZone, or as standalone switches, making them suitable for professional residential, hospitality, and education environments. The switches are fully interoperable with Crestron’s DM NVX AV-over-IP platform, which distributes networked video and audio.

The switches arrive as Ruckus completes a major corporate restructuring. On January 12, CommScope closed its sale of the Cable and Connectivity Solutions business to Amphenol, rebranding the remaining business units under Vistance Networks. The transaction eliminated significant debt and positioned Ruckus for what president Bart Giordano describes as an aggressive growth phase.

“The outward perception may be there’s been a lot of changes because of this transaction we just had,” Giordano said in an interview. “The reality is Ruckus is operating as we’ve been operating for many years. We just sort of moved this business under a new entity, and we no longer have the overhang, if you will, of a lot of leverage.”

A brief history of Ruckus: How ICX ended up in its portfolio

Ruckus has weathered a number of ownership changes over the past decade.

Ruckus was acquired by Brocade in 2016, and then spun out and acquired by Arris the following year, along with Brocade’s ICX switch business. The ICX switch business came to Brocade by way of the acquisition of Foundry Networks in 2008. In 2019, CommScope acquired Arris. Now in 2026, CommScope divested part of its business and rebranded as Vistance Network, with Ruckus as an operating unit.

As it turns out, that same ICX core platform family that was originally developed by Foundry Networks two decades ago is still very much alive and well in Ruckus today. “Customers have been on the ICX platform for decades,” Giordano said.

“What we’ve been able to do successfully is cross-sell that portfolio into Ruckus’s historical customer base,” Giordano said. “Increasingly, customers are no longer adopting best-of-breed Wi Fi and best-of-breed campus networking from a switching perspective.”

The company has focused on specific vertical markets, including education, hospitality, manufacturing and high-end residential installations. Now it’s extending that approach into commercial professional AV.

Software-driven convergence for air-gapped networks

Network architects have traditionally maintained separate physical networks for AV systems. The approach stems from two concerns: Video traffic could impact business-critical applications, and AV professionals often lack the networking expertise to properly configure enterprise switches. This doubles infrastructure costs and creates management complexity.

“There was a reluctance to run AV over a traditional production network,” Giordano said. “You’d have your classroom network that you’re running digital learning on and operating your campus around, and then you’d have this air-gap AV network because you were concerned that the traffic for AV is so latency sensitive and jitter sensitive that I need to have this bespoke network for it.”

The Pro AV ICX switches eliminate both barriers through software that automatically recognizes AV protocols and applies quality-of-service policies. The system uses network segmentation to isolate AV traffic from other applications without manual VLAN configuration. It handles uncompressed 4K and 8K video over standard Ethernet using copper RJ45 interfaces while managing multicast traffic patterns through IGMP snooping.

“We’ve effectively put really smart software on top of our standard campus networking and campus fabric switches for the express purposes of being able to handle this type of traffic in a multicast environment,” Giordano explained. “You’re able to use a combination of network segmentation and quality of service in order to segregate that traffic and maintain very low jitter and latency.”

The switches arrive preconfigured with AV-optimized settings. Users can connect Crestron controllers or other AV-over-IP endpoints without CLI commands or complex GUI navigation. Ruckus has partnered with Crestron, a major player in professional AV control systems and automation, to ensure the ICX switches work seamlessly with Crestron’s DM NVX AV-over-IP platform through formal lab qualification.

“The idea is we want to obfuscate the complexity from the folks that are using the technology,” Giordano said. “I don’t want the engineer to have to go and configure all of that. I want you to be able to plug a Crestron controller into an ICX switch, and that all happens in a plug and play fashion automatically. The traffic is prioritized. It’s very high quality of service.”

Crestron qualification and SDVoE compliance

The partnership with Crestron involves formal lab validation. Ruckus tests its switches with Crestron’s DM NVX AV-over-IP platform to ensure proper protocol handling before deployment.

Beyond the Crestron partnership, Ruckus is joining the SDVoE Alliance as an adopting member to ensure broader industry compliance. The SDVoE Alliance promotes standards for Software Defined Video over Ethernet, providing a framework for transmitting uncompressed, high-definition video over standard Ethernet.

“With SDVoE, as we’ve moved to very high definition 4K and 8K video, it provides both quality of service and the ability to transmit uncompressed 4K video over traditional Ethernet networks,” Giordano said. “It’s all very standard Ethernet but in a software-defined way being able to move very high definition video over an IP network without any loss of fidelity.”

What’s next for Ruckus

Ruckus views the Pro AV ICX switches as a bridgehead into commercial professional AV markets. While the company has been strong in high-end residential AV installations, Giordano sees the new capabilities as an expansion opportunity.

The company is also investing heavily in cloud-managed networking and AI-driven network operations, which Giordano identifies as the fastest-growing segment of the business. Ruckus is targeting expansion in higher education, manufacturing, and warehousing and logistics verticals.

“If anything, we’re more agile and hungry and are addressing the market with urgency,” Giordano said.