topic Re: Is SmartRoam available in Ruckus Cloud WiFi and how does the AP deal with DHCP leases? in RUCKUS Cloud

Is SmartRoam available in Ruckus Cloud WiFi and how does the AP deal with DHCP leases?

matthew_meirovi — Sat, 02 Feb 2019 01:54:13 GMT

I'm new to Ruckus and working on designing a Cloud WiFi solution. Zone Director has a feature called SmartRoam that disconnects clients when their signal falls below a certain level. Is that feature available in the cloud? My second, related question, has to do with how AP's deal with DHCP when controlled by the cloud. Do the AP's have a DHCP server built in, do they need to rely on an external DHCP server or are DHCP leases somehow controlled in the cloud? I'm interested in how the system will deal with clearing DHCP leases as clients come and go in a high traffic area.

Re: Is SmartRoam available in Ruckus Cloud WiFi and how does the AP deal with DHCP leases?

DarrelRhodes — Mon, 04 Feb 2019 13:29:17 GMT

Hi Matthew,

i) SmartRoam+ = we don't have a huge amount of documentation on this feature, however I believe it is an AP-level feature, as it is mentioned on the DataSheet for our latest AP, the R730. Ruckus Cloud is effectively a huge SmartZone deployment and SmartZone leverages SmartRoam+ technology. https://www.ruckuswireless.com/rucktionary/client-roaming-and-smartroam

ii) DHCP will need to be on a separate server in your local network. Ruckus Cloud is only managing the Access Points it isn't providing off-site network services like DHCP, DNS, NAT, Routing, etc. Also DHCP is a layer 3 service (IP), the APs are Layer 2 (MAC) devices. That said, sometimes controllers can perform limited Layer 3 functions, such as a basic DHCP server.

I hope that helps,
Darrel.

Re: Is SmartRoam available in Ruckus Cloud WiFi and how does the AP deal with DHCP leases?

rajiv_iyer_f23h — Wed, 13 Feb 2019 00:43:42 GMT

Confirming that DHCP and IP management would be external to Ruckus Cloud.

Re: Is SmartRoam available in Ruckus Cloud WiFi and how does the AP deal with DHCP leases?

lou_kalis — Wed, 13 Feb 2019 00:58:35 GMT

I still think it would be a good idea to allow an AP to serve as a dhcp server, basically increasing the cost by having an extra AP, but design other AP's to act as a backup DHCP server, where it would stop serving as an AP in the case of a failure.

I'd pay extra for that flexibility.

Re: Is SmartRoam available in Ruckus Cloud WiFi and how does the AP deal with DHCP leases?

DarrelRhodes — Wed, 13 Feb 2019 09:23:51 GMT

Hi Lou,

Ruckus Unleashed inludes a DHCP server which sounds like it will suit your requirements:
https://docs.ruckuswireless.com/unleashed/200.3/t-DHCPServer.html

And you don't have to pay extra for the funcationality! 🙂

Thanks,
Darrel.

Re: Is SmartRoam available in Ruckus Cloud WiFi and how does the AP deal with DHCP leases?

software_praxis — Fri, 01 Nov 2019 18:23:38 GMT

Wanted to follow up on this. Smart-Roam (or SmartRoam+) is a feature that is fairly well documented on the ZD and SmartZone platforms. But there's no mention of it in any of the Cloud documentation. Since it can be disruptive and needs tuning for the environment, I can't image it would just be on without any ability to adjust the level or turn it off. So.... does this mean it's not present in Ruckus Cloud?

A good KB article on the functionality is here: https://support.ruckuswireless.com/articles/000002277

Re: Is SmartRoam available in Ruckus Cloud WiFi and how does the AP deal with DHCP leases?

karthik — Tue, 29 Sep 2020 11:04:04 GMT

FYI, Ruckus recently released an update to 'Ruckus Cloud'. Version 20.07 includes DHCP/NAT functionalities.

DHCP/NAT – RUCKUS Cloud makes it easy to segment client traffic and assign IP addresses to both wired and wireless clients by enabling DHCP/NAT service on the AP. This release includes DHCP support for wired client devices, an expanded number of DHCP pools, and the ability to monitor and track usage of the DHCP pools deployed.

Refer to release notes for more details.
Documentation can be found at https://docs.cloud.ruckuswireless.com/alto/master--1-200711/GUID-D441B0C7-79DA-40B6-B112-E6043EBC06B...

HTH for anyone who is looking to deploy DHCP services on Cloud.
Thanks,
Karthik.