topic Re: Anyone using Ruckus APs on a 3COM 4400 series switch? in Access Points - Indoor and Outdoor

Anyone using Ruckus APs on a 3COM 4400 series switch?

chad_carson — Fri, 04 Oct 2013 12:42:27 GMT

We have a customer with 3COM equipment. A 7700 series Layer 3 switch where all vlans are defined, and a 3COM 4400 series edge Layer 2 switch where some access points are connected.

The port from the 7700 to the 4400 is configured as a trunk on the 7700, and all vlans are tagged on the 4400, so that all appears to be working. They are using VLAN 2 as the "default" VLAN, which is a change from the default of VLAN1.

My issue is, the access points are reachable on VLAN2 (where their own IP addresses are defined) if the port is set as UNTAGGED 2 (basically, an "access" port in Cisco terms). However, I can't leave it this way, as there are two more VLANs for the wireless networks we are trying to set up. As soon as I make it TAGGED with 2 and the other two VLANs for wireless SSIDs, the AP is unreachable via IP and no one can join the VLANs.

Just wanting to see if anyone out there actually HAS Ruckus APs on 3com 4400s and if there was anything special you had to do to get this to work?

Thanks for any assistance you can provide.

Re: Anyone using Ruckus APs on a 3COM 4400 series switch?

primoz_marinsek — Fri, 04 Oct 2013 12:53:55 GMT

Have you checked the manual on page 133 "Deploying ZoneDirector WLANs in
a VLAN Environment"?

Re: Anyone using Ruckus APs on a 3COM 4400 series switch?

chad_carson — Fri, 04 Oct 2013 13:36:49 GMT

Yes, been a while, but yes. We have a ton of these set up using VLANs on Cisco equipment with no problem. I have not worked at all with 3COM and wanted to make sure that it will actually work before I spend a day messing with it only to find out something isn't supported. The thing I am not sure about is the fact that the 3COM 4400 does not appear to have a true "trunk" setting on ports like the 7700 does. I can only choose TAGGED or UNTAGGED on each VLAN, but I'm pretty sure that should work. Cisco SG-series switches actually have a TRUNK setting I use. This is why I'm worried that the 3COM may not work properly (due to lack of a true "TRUNK" setting out to the APs).

I'll look through that section of the manual again to see if it helps.

Re: Anyone using Ruckus APs on a 3COM 4400 series switch?

rahul_koul — Fri, 04 Oct 2013 14:34:04 GMT

Hi Chad,

I can relate to your concerns as every vendor has their own way of dealing with VLANs and I too have had similar issues in the past. But I can offer you some suggestions which I hope make it work. First of all, I would like to know if the APs are managed by a ZD as some configuration might change then. If yes, then how is the ZD connected to the network? What is the switch port config?

Also, I think the VLAN 2 is also the Native VLAN? Can you make the switch ports where the APs connect as "Untagged" for VLAN 2 and Tagged for rest of the VLANs for your WLANs and see if it helps?

Re: Anyone using Ruckus APs on a 3COM 4400 series switch?

chad_carson — Fri, 04 Oct 2013 15:07:45 GMT

APs are managed by a ZD.
VLAN 2 is set as a "Management" VLAN, but there is also a VLAN 1 set a "Default" VLAN. The ZD and APs all have IP addresses in the "Management" VLAN.

There is a mix of Cisco/3COM switches. The ZD is connected to a Cisco SG300-28MP, port is set a "Trunk", native VLAN 2, tagged VLAN 71, 81 (two WLAN vlans). I have access points in this same switch, configured the same way, Native VLAN 2, Tagged 71, 81 and they all work just fine.

This Cisco switch connects to a 3COM 7700, which in turn connects to a 3COM 4400 in another wing of the building, I have port 2 UNTAGGED on the ports in the 4400 with Access points, and TAGGED 71,81, however, I cannot pick up DHCP on the WLAN 71/81 when I do this. There could be other issues with DHCP relay, though it appears that is all set up properly (again, not used to 3COM, so I may not have this correct).

Re: Anyone using Ruckus APs on a 3COM 4400 series switch?

chad_carson — Fri, 04 Oct 2013 15:10:55 GMT

I'm wondering if the problem may be a mixture of having Native VLAN 1 in some parts of the network, and setting the Management VLAN 2 as Native in other parts of the network.

I'm walking into an existing location and trying to overlay Ruckus on top of the existing network, which may have some underlying issues that are throwing me off.

Re: Anyone using Ruckus APs on a 3COM 4400 series switch?

rahul_koul — Fri, 04 Oct 2013 15:29:23 GMT

Chad, you might need to open a case with Ruckus TAC and 3Com's aswell unless someone who has worked with 3Com switches can provide suggestions here. I don't have any experience with 3Com switches.