Ruckus Wireless as an Unifi alternative?

[Rand__]

If you had shown up before I bought my support contract i might not have
But i think the majority here is not buying new except they buy for business, so the question is rather whether they need the extra functionality of a zd/sz or not - most don't I think.

 

[custom90gt]

I don't even know what advantage you get from running a ZD vs unleashed.

@ms264556, didn't you figure out how to virtualize the ZD?

 

[ms264556]

ZD advantages are in the slides I linked... e.g. L3 support, VLAN support, tunneling, running R310/500/600 on an up-to-date software release alongside R350/550/650.

I've parked the virtualization tinkering until November, for reasons which will hopefully be clearer in a few weeks. In the meantime I did other things - e.g. you can now region unlock Rx50 APs, or use a secure SSH host key your Unleashed/ZD.

 

[custom90gt]

ZD advantages are in the slides I linked... e.g. L3 support, VLAN support, tunneling, running R310/500/600 on an up-to-date software release alongside R350/550/650.

I've parked the virtualization tinkering until November, for reasons which will hopefully be clearer in a few weeks. In the meantime I did other things - e.g. you can now region unlock Rx50 APs, or use a secure SSH host key your Unleashed/ZD.

I think the only thing that would be of any interest would be the ability to run my R600s, but not enough to spend $1000 on a R750 just for it to not even function as an AP.

 

[ms264556]

I think the only thing that would be of any interest would be the ability to run my R600s, but not enough to spend $1000 on a R750 just for it to not even function as an AP.

Oh sorry, I thought you were asking about ZoneDirector specifically.

For Unleashed Dedicated Master, I guess just L3, VLAN, Tunneling are really interesting for the home, since old APs aren't supported.

 

[custom90gt]

Oh sorry, I thought you were asking about ZoneDirector specifically.

For Unleashed Dedicated Master, I guess just L3, VLAN, Tunneling are really interesting for the home, since old APs aren't supported.

You are right, I was curious what benefits a ZD would net me. I have a ZD1100 that I got for $20 on ebay that I've never even plugged in, I didn't realize how out of support it was when I made an impulse bid, lol.

 

[ms264556]

You are right, I was curious what benefits a ZD would net me. I have a ZD1100 that I got for $20 on ebay that I've never even plugged in, I didn't realize how out of support it was when I made an impulse bid, lol.

The ZD1100 is old, but I was using one until quite recently... R700 and 7982 APs (or even 7372 & 7962 APs) are still very good performers but they're given away here, because they can't run Unleashed. A ZD1100 will let you buy a few cheap/free APs to mesh your house (and friend/family houses too, if your ISP gives you a static IP). It's very low power, so no impact on your electric bill.
I only really upgraded to ZD1200 because I got some cheap R650s.

 

[sysops]

I'm trying to update an R710 from ZoneFlex firmware to Unleashed following BlackWire's instructions ( Ruckus Unleashed Firmware Guide - Blackwire (blackwiredesigns.com) ).

I initially had to factory reset the AP in order to gain access and that seemed to work without issue. However, when I try to update the firmware I keep getting a "firmware MD5 checksum failed" error.

I checked the md5sum against the file and it matches what is listed on the Ruckus site so I am unsure about why its happening. I've tried some lower firmware versions as well but they all give the same checksum error. I also tried rebooting again.

I found a Reddit post that suggested updating to a solo or standalone version first. The more recent Solo firmware are only available to premium support members but I was able to download Standalone AP 100.2.1.0.148 and install that without issue. But when I tried updating to the Unleashed firmware afterwards I continue to get MD5 checksum failed errors.

Has anyone come across this issue or have any suggestions on a possible solution?


Edit: OK right after posting this I realized all the older Unleashaed firmware I tried were still relatively recent from the original firmware on it after a factory reset which was from 2016 and the standalone firmware that worked (also from 2016). So I tried using a REALLY old version of unleashed and it looks like it updated without giving checksum errors.

I'm guessing the AP kept a list of files and checksums from that time period? IDK. Either way, I now have an old version of Unleashed I can work from and will see if I an get that working then update from there.

Edit 2: One more update. I was able to update from the old Unleashed version to the most recent 200.12.10.105.129. So far everything looks ok. But I have a lot more configuration to do in between this Ruckus AP, a Brocade ICX 7250 and a OpnSense Firewall I'm trying to get running alongside my Unifi network I'm looking to move away from.

 

[Vesalius]

I just posted this to reddit, so maybe too late, but you might want to try and buy a used R750 or R850 before the prices go even higher, if you're running a biggish unleashed setup or a ZD with newish APs:-

https://www.reddit.com/r/RuckusWiFi/comments/yb1neu

Interesting sniped an r750 for pretty cheap in dec of 21. Hard to believe they are now going for 3x what I paid for one used on eBay back then.

I'll have to experiment with 200.13 after the initial release dust settles.

 

[hmw]

Interesting sniped an r750 for pretty cheap in dec of 21.

Hah probably lost out to you on eBay. On the other hand, considering Ubiquiti APs are $150, even three of them are << a single R750.

I’ll wait till Ruckus supports WPA2/3 mixed properly on iDevices and Apple supports the 6GHz band - when the supply chain issues get resolved, the prices will be reasonable once again.

Unless the manufacturers start scaling back production like what’s happening with the NAND manufacturing

 

[klui]

@ms264556 would a ZD1100, 1200, or 3000 support R600, R510, R610 together on the 200.12 or newer trains? I've taken off the R600 out of my home network but would be nice if it could still be used.

 

[ms264556]

@ms264556 would a ZD1100, 1200, or 3000 support R600, R510, R610 together on the 200.12 or newer trains? I've taken off the R600 out of my home network but would be nice if it could still be used.

ZoneDirector, Unleashed and SmartZone all have their own version numbering system. The current ZoneDirector release is 10.5.1, and only runs on a ZD1200.

In addition to all the APs supported by Unleashed 200.12, ZoneDirector 10.5.1 still supports the R310, R500, R600, R730, T300 & T301.
Officially, ZoneDirector doesn't support the M510, but it's easy to mod the M510 to work with ZoneDirector.

So yes, you could buy a ZD1200 and use the R600 alongside later APs.

But consider you'll pay $100-$200 for the ZoneDirector; and although it's up-to-date today, there are probably only going to be security updates going forward.
If I had only 1 R600 then I'd be more inclined to eBay it and bid on an R510 replacement. If I had several R600s then for sure I'd jump on a ZoneDirector.

ZD1100 & ZD3000 have been discontinued for a long time.
The R600 is the latest AP you can use with the ZD1100, so only buy a ZD1100 if you need to connect R700s or pre-802.11ac APs to your network.
Don't buy a ZD3000 at all - it's loud and uses quite a bit of power.

 

[klui]

Thanks @ms264556 I really appreciate the detail you provided on the pros/cons of getting ZD, especially the versioning between the ZD1100, 1200, and 3000. I only have 1 R600 and I'll follow your advice to keep on using Unleashed rather than migrating to ZD for my use case.

 

[coxhaus]

I'm not sure what 'single point setup' is, but it's no longer relevant as I've removed the CBW APs and installed a single R710 and our WiFi in the house has never been better plus WiFi calling is rock-solid now. I'll be selling my CBW gear soon.

If you don't know what single point setup is on the Cisco small business wireless APs are then I am not sure you had the multiple APs setup well. Single point setup is how you create one virtual AP with all the wireless APs so they can all act as 1 big AP.

 

[adman_c]

Just found a zd1200 on ebay for a pretty good deal to play around with. Are there any gotchas to be aware of if I convert from unleashed to zone director? I have a r610, a r710 and 2x h510.

 

[custom90gt]

Just found a zd1200 on ebay for a pretty good deal to play around with. Are there any gotchas to be aware of if I convert from unleashed to zone director? I have a r610, a r710 and 2x h510.

Hah I almost picked up that one on ebay for $95 shipped, I just couldn't justify it after picking up an R750 for a "good" deal already.

@ms264556 - do you have any idea if running a ZD nets more performance than unleashed? Since it takes the load off the master controller. Also do you have any advice on the Adjacent radio threshold(dB) setting for load balancing. I setup the R750 with the R650 that I have and so far most clients remain on the R650. I plan on moving the R650 further away, I just figured I'd ask you first. Also thanks again for always being so helpful here.

 

[adman_c]

Hah I almost picked up that one on ebay for $95 shipped, I just couldn't justify it after picking up an R750 for a "good" deal already.

@ms264556 - do you have any idea if running a ZD nets more performance than unleashed? Since it takes the load off the master controller. Also do you have any advice on the Adjacent radio threshold(dB) setting for load balancing. I setup the R750 with the R650 that I have and so far most clients remain on the R650. I plan on moving the R650 further away, I just figured I'd ask you first. Also thanks again for always being so helpful here.

LOL, I'm so easily suggestible. I read something here on STH and then I go buy shit on ebay. Happened with tiny PCs, my switch, my APs, and now this!!

 

[ms264556]

@ms264556 - do you have any idea if running a ZD nets more performance than unleashed? Since it takes the load off the master controller. Also do you have any advice on the Adjacent radio threshold(dB) setting for load balancing. I setup the R750 with the R650 that I have and so far most clients remain on the R650. I plan on moving the R650 further away, I just figured I'd ask you first. Also thanks again for always being so helpful here.

Sorry, I never noticed a performance difference between ZD & Unleashed, but I didn't test much. I only switched to ZD for the extra features.

Client Load balancing only operates when clients initially connect - it doesn't move already connected clients around. So it's not solving any problem I've ever had at home, and I don't enable it.

Smart Roam moves clients around your APs, but the disassociation knocks the devices I tested off the wifi for a few seconds. If you set a high roam factor value then your device will be constantly losing wifi for a few seconds. If you set a low roam factor value then you'll mostly sit on the initial AP your device decided on, but now with occasional annoying disconnects.

So really worth spending time to find good placement which gives you the minimum overlap. Disabling 2.4G on some APs can help if they're too close together.

When I switched from 3 unifi APs to 1 Ruckus, the main upside was no wifi dead spots anymore. But getting rid of roaming issues was a very nice side-effect.

 

[custom90gt]

Sorry, I never noticed a performance difference between ZD & Unleashed, but I didn't test much. I only switched to ZD for the extra features.

Client Load balancing only operates when clients initially connect - it doesn't move already connected clients around. So it's not solving any problem I've ever had at home, and I don't enable it.

Smart Roam moves clients around your APs, but the disassociation knocks the devices I tested off the wifi for a few seconds. If you set a high roam factor value then your device will be constantly losing wifi for a few seconds. If you set a low roam factor value then you'll mostly sit on the initial AP your device decided on, but now with occasional annoying disconnects.

So really worth spending time to find good placement which gives you the minimum overlap. Disabling 2.4G on some APs can help if they're too close together.

When I switched from 3 unifi APs to 1 Ruckus, the main upside was no wifi dead spots anymore. But getting rid of roaming issues was a very nice side-effect.

Well I think you're spot on. I enabled smart roam through CLI, and at values above 5, devices will constantly bounce between the two APs. Even at low values there are some difficulties with disconnects. Overall I think I get better performance and results with just one AP which is disappointing. My goal was to have an AP on opposite sides of the house since it's more elongated and hopefully improve my wifi outside. I may have to nix the idea. I assumed that ruckus would provide a better experience than say consumer related equipment, but I guess my expectations are too great. No idea how Linus from LTT has so many Ruckus APs in his house and has any reasonable experience on it.

 

[sth]

IMO, It’s worth buying or renting some WiFi site analysis tools to get the most out of your existing access points to ensure reliable and performant coverage with robust hand off between devices. I’m running a combination of 6x r750/r850 currently in a 3000sqft home and it’s 100% reliable at ~gigabit speeds.

I recommend
Chanalyzer | Spectrum Analysis for Complex Networks

WiFi Explorer Pro 3 - Professional Wi-Fi Scanner Analyzer for Mac

https://www.netspotapp.com/features.html[/URL