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

[matthew_meirovi]

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.

[DarrelRhodes]

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.

[software_praxis]

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

[rajiv_iyer_f23h]

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

[lou_kalis]

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.