Assistance Needed: Configuring VLANs, DHCP Relay, and Port Modes on Cisco and ZD1200 Devices

[Awais]

Please guide me on the following case: I have configured RADIUS on 172.16.10.31, and users will receive dynamic VLANs from it—for IT, VLAN 11 and for Finance, VLAN 14. Currently, my DHCP server is configured on 172.16.10.29, and I have configured the relay on the ZD1200 accordingly. My AP R510 is connected to a Cisco 2960 access switch, and the ZD1200 wireless controller is also connected to the same switch. When I configure the port of the Cisco 2960 in switchport mode access for controller, the connectivity between the AP and controller is established. However, when set to trunk, they lose communication with each other. AP connected to switch with port mode trunk is working fine.

Similarly, when I keep the Cisco switchport mode in access for controller, users authenticate via the AAA RADIUS server correctly but cannot find the DHCP server. The DHCP server is behind a firewall and traffic to it passes through a core switch where the IP helper command is already defined for DHCP.

What should I do? What should be the port mode for connectivity between the Cisco switch and ZD1200, and between the Cisco switch and AP R510? What should the Ethernet port settings be within the ZD1200 and AP R510? Keep in mind that users should get dynamic IPs from their respective pools (11 for IT and 14 for Finance) using the single SSID name "ZDTEST".