Ruckus Reliability

[ExtraTerrestrial]

Hi

 

We had used Ruckus for 9 years with no issues so when it came time to upgrade it was an easy choice and while it cost more than cheaper options we thought you get what you pay for. Unfortunately since we have upgraded we have been getting connectivity issues where I'm really starting to question the reliability. 

 

What happens is users will report that their WiFi isn't working and when we go to investigate we can see that the AP itself seems to have stopped broadcasting the SSID in that area as the signal drops despite an AP being in that room and servicing only a handful of devices. We check with other devices and it's the same where the signal seems to have disappeared despite standing underneath the AP. When you check the AP logs there is nothing there to suggest the AP has gone down or had any issues yet you get the same symptoms across multiple devices in the same room or area. Drivers are all up to date and the WiFi itself should be backwards compatible. One example is one room had 2 users connected to the WiFi and they experienced this issue twice within the hour where the signal just dropped off and you had to reconnect after a few minutes where the signal had disappeared. 

 

All APs were replaced and installed in the same locations as previous so no issues with the cabling. Switches were also upgraded for the extra power requirements. The setup is currently on unleashed not a VSZ. 

 

We have a mix of

 

Ruckus R370, dual band 802.11be Indoor Wi-Fi 7 Access Points

Ruckus T350c, omni, 802.11ax Outdoor Wi-Fi 6 Access Points

 

The switches were replaced with TP-Link JetStream 24-Port 2.5GBASE-T and 4-Port 10GE SFP+ L2+ Managed Switch. The APs display as "802.3at Switch PoE operating mode". The switches were replaced with TP-Link JetStream 24-Port 2.5GBASE-T and 4-Port 10GE SFP+ L2+ Managed Switch.

 

Any suggestions or help would be really appreciated. 

 

Thanks

 

[Net-Ctrl]

Hi - can you confirm what version of Unleashed you're running on your deployment?

[ExtraTerrestrial]

System version: 200.19.7.11.283

[Net-Ctrl]

Thanks for confirming. That is the latest supported version for your AP estate so that should be fine. If you would like I can request one of my SEs gets in touch to arrange a remote session and review your config?

 

No pressure - feel free to send me a PM with an email address and I will pass it on. 

[Gongalong]

We upgraded an old Ruckus system with a controller to Unleashed with mostly R650 APs. We do have one T350 outdoor AP. I had mixed feelings about going with Ruckus because of their organisational changes, but our previous Ruckus system had been so reliable I took the risk. The APs don't seem quite as powerful as what we had previously, and we have had the odd AP rarely seem to go offline (fixed with a reboot). Other than that it still seems to be pretty good. We're currently on 200.18.7.101.244. We don't use PoE, the APs have separate PSUs.

 

How long have you had this system?

[Net-Ctrl]

I am sure this is all covered but on the off-chance as you mentioned power - if you're using injectors for the R650s they will need to be PoE+ for full functionality. 

[Davit2005]

Have you got overlapping??? This can cause jus as much issue as not enough signal and a reason why I would advocate for a wireless survey when replacing older AP technology for newer APs. 

 

A good example was our new build where the builders ignored our AP locations, we literally had 3 APs in an open office within 5 meters of each over and ended up turning off a third of the APs in total and have not had any reports about WiFi issues in that building in 4 years now, lol.

[ExtraTerrestrial]

Thanks @Net-Ctrl I will keep that in mind.

 

@Davit2005 Thanks for the suggestion I will see if I can turn off a couple in the two areas that seem to have the most problems. It's possible because although a survey was done after the new APs were installed they just swapped them like for like with the old ones so there is a good possibility the strength would not have been an issue but now is. 

 

 

[robintech]

Having a lot of SSID can cause weird issues, think it is 16 in total per AP for this Ruckus R370  and each band e.g. 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz counts as one SSID so 8 SSID in total if using two bands for each

Edited July 10 by robintech

[flipthebit]

Channels overlapping/interferring would be a good thing to check. Depending on your layout it can turn into a 3D puzzle quickly. The systems that automatically set these for you don't always pick the best setups.

 

I used to use a wifi channel scanner app (inssider) and walk to different locations to see what was available.

[ExtraTerrestrial]

Only a few months now it's just really strange because it is intermittent and we can't see any patterns. Why would the SSID disappear in the area for a few minutes without showing anything in the AP logs?? Other than this issue we haven't had any others but the problem with it is when people are on important calls and it drops multiple times it raises questions. 

[ExtraTerrestrial]

We only have 2 SSIDs being broadcast so wouldn't be that. 

[robintech]

Is the Smart Monitor "Enable (WLANs will be disabled automatically if the default gateway of AP is unreachable)" turned on,  i've only used VSZ not Unleashed but are those the logs from the AP itself from the built in web interface/SSH ? they seem to be incredibly detailed .

[flipthebit]

Does anything at all relating to those APs show up in the 'Diagnostics/Events' or 'Diagnostics/All Alarms'? Anything on the switches about the ports changing?

Edited July 10 by flipthebit

[Net-Ctrl]

A consideration - does the AP in question happen to be your 'Master' AP? You should be able to see the designated Master AP in your admin settings.

[ChetterHummin]

I'm thinking it may be power-related. The fact there isn't anything in the logs indicates the AP didn't completely lose power, but the loss of signal at certain times indicates it was enough of a power restriction that the AP radio was temporarily powered down.

 

I doubt the PoE switch itself is being overloaded as you would see something in the log for that- possibly the power delivery port on it is faulty instead? Otherwise you could try using a PoE injector brick with the problem APs and see if the problem goes away.

 

Another question- is it always the same APs having the problem, or does it seem to be all of them? If its just a few and you can narrow it down to a single PoE switch they all share, that would be a suspect.

[JimMcr]

Hi - full disclosure here: I work for Clarion, an education-focused telecoms and network reseller.

Before choosing between Ruckus and Cambium, I’d say it is well worth checking the price of an equivalent TP-Link Omada solution.

The cost difference can be substantial, and Omada build quality is robust. We have numerous happy school customers using it, with excellent results for both reliability and value.

Happy to share more detail if useful...

[TheRobins]

100% I would say power. Did see this with when we upgraded some Wifi 5 Outdoor ap's so T350'cs. I now run Aruba 1930 POE+ 16 port switches on all our AP's and not had a problem since. In the old aruba switches we had I watched the POE power and they were within limits but AP's on longer cable runs were the ones that started flapping first. You could see the power requirements going up and down rapidly. We run R750's for internal ap's and I have made sure only the R750s can be master AP's and its been solid for 18 months now.