Ruckus ZoneDirector 1200 & Pair Of R610 APs - Upgrading Software

[abq]

Hello All,

I am upgrading my current UniFi home network to a Ruckus home network, with emphasis 'on the cheap' & home network (NOT commercial). I have an old ZoneDirector 1200 that I would like to use to orchestrate & update the pair of R610 APs, but cannot find a 'home lab' friendly approach to software updates. I searched STH & other sites, but looks like this is a common issue with commercial AP systems, when repurposed to home lab & learning environment. ...I like 'Ruckus Unleashed' approaches, but really prefer to use ZD1200, learn a bit, & grow wireless network in the future.

My goal is to update both the ZD1200 & pair of R610s with latest software and call it good enough. I did read it is possible to 'reset ZD 1200' with trial licenses (not sure on details), but also looks like you CANNOT update software with this trial license method. Any ideas how to update to latest Ruckus software on my ZD1200 & R610s, with-out the very expensive yearly Ruckus licenses? Or maybe some cheap, home lab license that I cannot find?!? Any help & guidance is appreciated.

Happy Holidays,
ABQ

 

[ms264556]

Happy holidays ABQ.

Firstly, the ZoneDirector and Unleashed software are similar (if you hack the firmware you can see they're basically the same), so you're not going to gain a heap of knowledge from running ZD rather than UL (like you would if you ran SmartZone for example). And the ZD definitely feels like a product in its twilight years. Some Unleashed features like enhanced WiFi calling haven't been enabled on ZD.

But if you want to play around with multi-site or tunneling then ZD is going to be much more fun.
(I run a ZoneDirector at home. I started with a ZD1100, and I'm currently running a ZD1200. I also ran a pair with Smart Redundancy for a while).

So long as your ZD1200 can see the internet, when you run through the setup after after a factory reset then your ZD should pickup a 30 day support license. You can use this support license to upgrade to the latest ZoneDirector release.
At worst, since you have a not-complicated home setup, you could just factory-reset, upgrade, then re-setup the ZD every time there's a release with nice new features you want.

The hopeful news though is that my ZD1200s have always picked up endless support licenses! The 30 day clock runs down to 0 days & then magically resets to 30. This has happened with 3 different ZoneDirectors, for many many months. Another ZD1200 owner mentioned they see the same thing, so definitely not a complete fluke.

Also, I recently picked up a cheap used ZD1200 which still had 18 months of support left. I'm happy to sell it to you for what it cost me (if you're in the USA, this would be $160 including shipping from NZ), and you could eBay your existing one to offset the cost. It's conceivable you'd even come out ahead $$$-wise.
see below

 

[ms264556]

Actually, since this is for your home use, and I guess if you're here then you're reasonably technical...

Just contact me privately and I can send you instructions on how we can swap our ZD1200 serial numbers. This will give you support entitlement until 2023/07/05.

Edit:
Since I've had a few private messages, if you just want to increase your ZoneDirector's support entitlement so you can do an upgrade, see here instead:-

https://ms264556.net/pages/ZD1200LicensesAndSupport

 

[abq]

@ms264556, Thank You for your help here.

I especially appreciate your insight that factory reset gets automatic 30 day license & latest software. I will try that reset next, also ensuring ZD1200 has direct internet connection. I don't think I'm ready for HA (a 2nd ZD1200 would to be over $100 now). I'll try the 'factory-reset, upgrade, then re-setup the ZD every time' approach for now.

Best Regards, ABQ

 

[ms264556]

Sure, try the reset.

Maybe I wasn't clear in my posting though - I wasn't suggesting HA....
I can send you instructions to take your existing ZD1200 & change the serial number so that Ruckus will give you 18 months of free support so you can do upgrades.

 

[abq]

Copy that, apologies for the confusion on HA & I did not want to risk Ruckus noticing your duplicate ZD1200 serial number at different location. I very much appreciate your very generous offer, just not worth the risk to you & your license. Cheers, ABQ

 

[ms264556]

Great stuff.

(For sure I wouldn't continue running the same serial! I'd apply your serial # since I don't need the support entitlement - this is just a spare sitting on a shelf).

 

[rocketpanda40]

If you're open to playing with different things and not having a physical appliance, you could also look at spinning up virtual smartzone.

 

[Rand__]

I can send you instructions to take your existing ZD1200 & change the serial number so that Ruckus will give you 18 months of free support so you can do upgrades.

Thats a very good offer ... especially considering the hoops I had to jump through to get them to change ownership one one I bought on Ebay to make me even eligible to buy support...

6 weeks discussions and sweet talking so I could spend another €500 on them ... its just never occurred to them that their product actually might be sold on Ebay and the buyers might want to get support or licenses... no process in place for that...

 

[ms264556]

its just never occurred to them that their product actually might be sold on Ebay and the buyers might want to get support or licenses... no process in place for that...

Unfortunately this seems typical for enterprise network stuff. I know Cisco & Juniper (and probably others) have spun it into a money-making proposition by charging an excruciatingly high 'recertification fee' before they let you buy support on 2nd hand equipment.

 

[abq]

RE: Ruckus Z1200 Factory Reset. ...I tried both 'reset' and 'F/D' several times, holding button in for up to a full 60 seconds each. Ruckus instructions say to do this with power on, but also tried with power off. Ruckus instruction suggests 'status' and 'power' LEDs should flash after 5-10 seconds, should even flash or blink red. Mine just stays solid green color on both, and no response on IP 192.168.0.2. Any ideas on what to try next for reset or factory default? ...I am opening up the Z1200 case next, to take pictures and see if any jumper reset or reload options.

 

[abq]

Here is picture of z1200. Looks like 2gb memory, and CF card. Any ideas on jumpers JP2 or J13? CMOS battery is at 2.99v.

 

[ms264556]

This sounds like the normal failure mode for a ZD1200.
Unfortunately, when ZD1200s fail with two solid green LEDs there is no easy fix. Swapping out RAM/CF/battery does nothing.

If you'd had a support contract on this ZD1200, then you should get no pushback at all asking for an RMA.

If there's no support contract then Ruckus are the worst - every reply will be 'please buy support and then get back to us'. You will need to cut your losses and buy another ZD1200, upgrade to the same firmware you were running, and restore your config backup. Or, better, throw the ZD on eBay as 'dead' & install Unleashed on your APs.

Ruckus are completely silent on this (not uncommon) issue and just ask you to RMA if you have a support contract (e.g. see https://forums.ruckuswireless.com/c...-instances-this-week/5f91c3fc135b77e24790a9f9).

I suspect it's caused by the Intel CPU issue mentioned here: https://www.servethehome.com/another-atom-bomb-intel-e3800-bay-trail-atom-vli89-bug/

 

[abq]

Happy New Year ms164556! Thank you for your help & experience on R1200 again. ...I am surprised 'somebody' hasn't tried to troubleshoot issue before, but the Z1200 must be considered disposable and easily replaced/e-waste. ...I'll yank the DDR3-2GB SODIMM & CF Card for potential spares or testing. Maybe I can reuse the case for an old NUC motherboard & SSD

 

[abq]

Hello @rocketpanda40. Thank you for your advice & virtual smartzone recommendation. I may end up trying that approach, since my A1200 seems to be dead . Is virtual 'smartzone' free for home use (or low cost option)? Trust you have a Happy New Year

If you're open to playing with different things and not having a physical appliance, you could also look at spinning up virtual smartzone.

Edit: Ouch, "The Ruckus virtual SmartZone (vSZ) pricing is $995 (USD) per instance, plus $100 (USD) per access point license." ;(.

 

[abq]

Thats a very good offer ... especially considering the hoops I had to jump through to get them to change ownership one one I bought on Ebay to make me even eligible to buy support...

6 weeks discussions and sweet talking so I could spend another €500 on them ... its just never occurred to them that their product actually might be sold on Ebay and the buyers might want to get support or licenses... no process in place for that...

Hello @Rand, thank you for sharing your observation & experience here. I truly appreciate ms164556's offer & advice too! ... I have the same experience as you with many of these 'reused/repurposed' corporate items. Trust you & yours have a Happy New Year

 

[Rand__]

Edit: Ouch, "The Ruckus virtual SmartZone (vSZ) pricing is $995 (USD) per instance, plus $100 (USD) per access point license." ;(.

Yeah, they really dont want any non paying users for that.
(Very inofficial) recommendation from a support guy i spoke to was to optimize (automate) the setup process and just restore the backup each time ...

 

[ms264556]

Agreed. The trial is long enough, and the scripting easy enough so that this is very doable.

For me, it was worth installing SZ to see that the technical & manageability enhancements offer nothing to a home user. No more SZ envy.

For a single site (e.g. your home), Unleashed is free, performs just the same, & doesn't need a VM host with a spare 13GB RAM + 150GB disk space.

Even running several 'sites', it's personally more satisfying having a $100 ZoneDirector, & hacking in the missing functionality I needed (e.g. scripting certificate and config updates).

 

[Rand__]

I am sure people here would appreciate any... pointers ... that you might be willing to provide to improve the ... manageability ... of a vSZ instance ... and if you have something similar for the IOT controller I might actually start playing with the IOT interfaces i have lying around (and never deployed since not working with ZD :/)

 

[ms264556]

I haven't run vSZ in ages - I remember hitting a trial limitation (I think APs is limited to 5?). SmartZone license checks were difficult to hack out, and I'd figured out how to give ZDs unlimited AP licenses, so I ditched SZ.

For sure I can have a search through my backups next time I have a holiday, and put together a markdown summary of the vSZ-e reinstall+restore script I was using on hyper-v.