Ruckus AP Ethernet Ports

[SimpleSi]

My Ruckus APs have 2 ethernet ports on them - I've always assumed that these formed a switch and that I could connect one port to the wall socket and use the other to connect to a class PC - I'm a right or have I made a bad assumption????

 

Si

[Dos_Box]

One is a POE port. They are not an inbuilt switch.

[SimpleSi]

Oh dear - I'd better be checking to see if I haven't abused any of mine then!

 

Si

[IrritableTech]

They are usable network connections aren't they? My understanding was that they were designed to have a wired device attached to the extra ports? Seems the case on my 7343's. You can assign vlans and the like.

[Achandler]

Its been a while since I used Ruckus but you use to be able to daisy chain them, so in theory if you coudl daisy chain two points you could surely daisy chain a PC.

[IrritableTech]

Just had another look into this...

The 7300 series are sold with the fact that you can connect a wired pc and as they suggest a voip phone connected to these ports. Each with a different vlan if required.

 

Is the suggestions that they are more like L3 hubs rather than switches?

Edited March 20, 2012 by IrritableTech

[Dos_Box]

I think I'll ask one of our contacts to answer this for us. I stand to be corrected, but it does seem a very unusual feature if it is the case.

[White_Fi]

Yes you would be correct.

 

The spare ports are for extending your Ethernet. I see deployments where they are used for mesh and then a switch of the back of the AP. However you can plug whatever, printer, pc etc into a Root AP as well.

[White_Fi]

You can also set the ports as access ports or trunk ports into separate VLANs..Or just disable them for security.

[SimpleSi]

Phew

 

Si

[bladedanny]

We have limited network points around school, so this feature has been a god send for me being able to put APs into classrooms with only one network point and still have the computer connected. We also have a copier connected. There's no apparent speed loss.

[Dom_]

Yes you would be correct.

 

The spare ports are for extending your Ethernet. I see deployments where they are used for mesh and then a switch of the back of the AP. However you can plug whatever, printer, pc etc into a Root AP as well.

 

I've done this at one of my sites as a workaround before I run the cable - it's great!

[Haptic]

We have limited network points around school, so this feature has been a god send for me being able to put APs into classrooms with only one network point and still have the computer connected. We also have a copier connected. There's no apparent speed loss.

 

It does work rather well at limiting the need for additional wired points, especially for connecting printers and preventing the need to add WiFi connectivity to classroom/teacher desktops. Only thing to be aware of is that this feature is not present on the entry level 7341 access point (last number on AP model numbers indicates port numbers).

[bladedanny]

It does work rather well at limiting the need for additional wired points, especially for connecting printers and preventing the need to add WiFi connectivity to classroom/teacher desktops. Only thing to be aware of is that this feature is not present on the entry level 7341 access point (last number on AP model numbers indicates port numbers).

 

Good to know, we have the 7343s with PoE.

[DarrenG]

Just an extra bit of info for you - the 2 additional ports are fast ethernet only (which usually isn't an issue but worth knowing)

[SimpleSi]

he 2 additional ports are fast ethernet only

 

Fast ethernet????

 

10/100/1GB/10GB/100GB/1TB ???????

 

Si

[DarrenG]

Fast ethernet????

 

10/100/1GB/10GB/100GB/1TB ???????

 

Si

 

Sorry, Fast Ethernet = 100Mbps

[DarrenG]

The issue would come that if you daisy chain a Ruckus AP off of a 100Mbps port you will be bottlenecking your potential 300Mbps of throughput to 200Mbps total and only 100Mbps in one direction

 

300Mbps of throughput being based on the dual radio units using both radios (150Mbps in 2.4GHz and 150Mbps in 5GHz)

Edited March 24, 2012 by DarrenG

[mac_shinobi]

My Ruckus APs have 2 ethernet ports on them - I've always assumed that these formed a switch and that I could connect one port to the wall socket and use the other to connect to a class PC - I'm a right or have I made a bad assumption????

 

Si

@SimpleSi I didn't intend to make you panic, I just thought it was odd that an AP had 2 ethernet ports. As per below good to know and double check obviously

 

Yes you would be correct.

 

The spare ports are for extending your Ethernet. I see deployments where they are used for mesh and then a switch of the back of the AP. However you can plug whatever, printer, pc etc into a Root AP as well.

@StuartWhite - Thanks for the update and extra info as per your other post above.

[SYNACK]

Sorry, Fast Ethernet = 100Mbps

 

Standards wise:

Ethernet = 10Mbit

Fast Ethernet = 100mbit

Gigabit Ethernet = it starts using the numbers in the name

[mac_shinobi]

The issue would come that if you daisy chain a Ruckus AP off of a 100Mbps port you will be bottlenecking your potential 300Mbps of throughput to 200Mbps total and only 100Mbps in one direction

 

300Mbps of throughput being based on the dual radio units using both radios (150Mbps in 2.4GHz and 150Mbps in 5GHz)

 

So you are basically saying that the port that you connect the AP to the switch with needs to use a gigabit connection and the 2nd ethernet port on the AP that you are using to extend your network or use for a printer or whatever then doesn't matter as you are using a gigabit port for the main connection so the AP would or could then use 300 mbps Wi Fi and still have enough bandwidth etc to pipe the data down without any bottle necks as it is not trying to squeeze 1 gigabit per second down a 100mbps connection even if the ethernet connection is 100 mbps full duplex ???

[mac_shinobi]

Standards wise:

Ethernet = 10Mbit

Fast Ethernet = 100mbit

Gigabit Ethernet = it starts using the numbers in the name

 

That is technically correct although should they change this as technically gigabit ethernet is also fast, or faster then just fast ethernet ?

 

Think it is better to just post the speed up with duplex ie half duplex 10 mbps or full duplex 100 mbps ( although not sure if this would work with gigabit ) ?

Edited March 24, 2012 by mac_shinobi

[SYNACK]

That is technically correct although should they change this as technically gigabit ethernet is also fast, or faster then just fast ethernet ?

 

Think it is better to just post the speed up with duplex ie half duplex 10 mbps or full duplex 100 mbps ( although not sure if this would work with gigabit ) ?

 

Yea, the later ones can step down to the earlier ones. If going by mbit then 1GB just equals 1000mbit/s but it gets clumbsy. Besides anything below gigabit is really just limited to low speed monitering gear now, even our printers have GB ethernet. Stuff like UPS monitering cards are fast ethernet but thats pretty much just a fancy microcontroller.

 

edit: It is nice that the ruckus gear has another port on it for this kind of setup thoughas its a differentiating feature.

Edited March 24, 2012 by SYNACK

[DarrenG]

So you are basically saying that the port that you connect the AP to the switch with needs to use a gigabit connection and the 2nd ethernet port on the AP that you are using to extend your network or use for a printer or whatever then doesn't matter as you are using a gigabit port for the main connection so the AP would or could then use 300 mbps Wi Fi and still have enough bandwidth etc to pipe the data down without any bottle necks as it is not trying to squeeze 1 gigabit per second down a 100mbps connection even if the ethernet connection is 100 mbps full duplex ???

 

Well sort of. If you are plugging in a pc or printer or CCTV camera etc then the 100mbps ports should suffice as let's face it, 100mbps is still plenty for one machine in most cases. However if you plug another access point into the 100mbps port then you would be bottlenecking it as it could in theory use up to 300mbps if given a gig port. This would however be a better option than meshing in some situations assuming your data transfer is fairly even each way and you are happy with a 100/50 split of throughput as meshing by nature means you can only max out as 150mbps agregate throughput to your 2.4ghz clients as the 5ghz then becomes backhaul.

 

I would imagine ruckus only put 100mbps ports in for the 2nd and 3rd ports as they didn't want any wired traffic to be detrimental to the wireless.

 

Hope that made sense as I'm still half asleep lol. Let me know if you want me to explain myself better :-)

Edited March 24, 2012 by DarrenG

[mac_shinobi]

That's more then likely the case because if you have a system such as Ruckus to server multiple users / devices at the same time then the wireless needs the bandwidth ie a gigabit connection ( physically connected ) so that each user gets the throughput not just between the users device and the AP but also from the AP through the physical network and out onto the internet and back etc etc