Issues with Ruckus R510 APs & ICX-7150-C12P Switch in a Lennar Home

[eric_hutchens]

Hello, I sent in a support question several months ago, but due to life getting in the way, I wasn’t able to act on it. I finally have some time to deal with the issues now --- but I also found out there were a few more questions I should have asked originally!

I am a Lennar homeowner, and my Ruckus home set-up is two R510 Access Points, and one ICX-7150-C12P Switch.  My home network and Wi-Fi are all currently functional, but I’ve found that I now have 2 issues / limitations:

1. I can no longer log-in to my APs via Ruckus Unleashed from my iPhone 12 / IOS 17.4.1 --- whenever I attempt, I just see “Unleashing….” displayed forever & ever, and I never get access.
    
2. My ISP recently upgraded my internet speed to 500 Mbps --- which I can now achieve when connected directly to my cable modem, but the Ruckus system seems to be internally restricting my speed to about 250 Mbps. I had heard that this could potentially be caused by a corrupted setting in the ICS switch?

I have done some looking for these issues in the Ruckus forums, but the information I have found so far seems somewhat scattered around & incomplete.

I figured that first I should see what Ruckus firmware versions I’m running in my devices.

I can access my two R510 APs as an administrator (username = admin) via the web browser interface, and can see that they are both running firmware version 200.7.10.2.339.  [ I had to use the Firefox browser (Chrome & Edge would not work for this) to see the Online Upgrade options for the R510 firmware, and it appears that I may be at least 30 firmware releases behind the current one, which is listed as 200.15.6.112.54 ]. I have seen comments that getting my APs onto more current firmware might solve the problem with logging-in through Unleashed with my iPhone.  

My questions about the two APs are:

1. What is the recommended R510 AP firmware version that I should be using?  Should I jump all the way to the latest release ( 200.15.6.112.54 ), or is it recommended to stop at some earlier general release that might be considered more ‘stable’ ?
2. Is there a recommended ‘firmware release path’ to upgrade the firmware on my two R510 APs from  200.7.10.2.339  to that currently recommended version?  In other words, can I upgrade in one big step, or do I need to take a series of smaller steps and load intermediate releases in series?
3. If I use the web browser interface to start the firmware online upgrade process for my AP #1, what should do with AP #2 while the AP #1 upgrade is in progress? Shut it down? Leave it running? Or ????

The ICX Switch is going to be difficult as well. I am unable to log-in to the Switch at all from the web browser interface --- the original installer must have thoughtfully changed the admin log-in (very helpful of them), and none of the username/password combos that I could find in the Ruckus support forums worked either.  Following some other advice on the Ruckus forums, I purchased a long USB-A to USB-C cable, and downloaded PuTTY --- and I was able to gain access to the ICX Switch using this method.  This showed me that the Switch firmware was version 08.0.70bT211  --- which, like the APs, appears to be far from current. But I have had worse luck finding specific information about how to deal with the Switch on the Ruckus forums.

My questions about the Switch are:

1. Before I start messing around with the Switch, how can I set myself up a log-in username/password on the Switch so that I could access it with administrator privileges via the web browser interface?
2. What is the recommended ICX-7150-C12P firmware version I should be using?  Should I jump all the way to the latest release ( not sure what this would be ), or is it recommended to stop at some earlier general release that might be considered more 'stable' ?
3. Is there a recommended ‘firmware release path’ to upgrade my ICX-7150-C12P Switch from  08.0.70bT211 to that currently recommended version?  In other words, can I upgrade in one big step, or do I need to take a series of smaller steps and load intermediate releases in series?
4. Since I haven’t seen the web browser interface for the Switch yet, I don’t know what to expect regarding doing the firmware upgrade for the switch.  Can I upgrade the Switch firmware through the browser interface, or will this need to be done via the PuTTY interface?  Is there a step-by-step instruction available on how to perform the Switch firmware upgrade?
5. Once I am able to log-in to the Switch, and I have the Switch firmware upgraded to the currently recommended version --- How do I solve my original issue, and “uncorrupt” the setting in the Switch that may be throttling the data speed from my ISP?

I've attached a few pics at the end here, some of the same as requested in other posts, just to try to jump start some of this. (Pictures of the Switch connections & lights; screenshots while connected to the Switch via PuTTY)

Sorry for all the questions.  This is one of those situations where you don’t realize how much trouble you might be in until a few things begin acting differently….

Eric Hutchens
Switch - PuTTY - 1Switch - PuTTY - 2Switch - Connections/Lights - 1Switch - Connections/Lights - 2

[eric_hutchens]

Hi Imran,

My troubleshooting efforts were temporarily put on-hold due to the long holiday weekend. 

I plan to resume working on these two items later today.

Thanks for your help so far.

Eric

[Imran_ruckus]

Hi @eric_hutchens 

Thank you for your prompt response.

As you continue your investigation, I recommend attempting to log in using the credentials you previously attempted to reset. Occasionally, there may be a delay in synchronization.

Please keep me informed of any developments.

Once again, thank you for your patience and understanding.

Best regards,

Imran Sanadi
RUCKUS Lennar Home Community

[eric_hutchens]

Hi Imran,

I tried the steps you suggested to solve the issue regarding the inability to log into my ICX-7150-C12P Switch via a web browser & Web Management. I watched the Password Recovery Tutorial video, and realized that my switch never had an access password set up --- the switch never asked for a password when I typed the ‘enable’ command. 

But, I went ahead and tried issuing the “enable super-user-password” command discussed in the video, and that seemed to work as advertised --- when I backed out of ‘enable’ mode and then tried to get back in, it made me enter the password that I just set up. I wasn’t sure if Web Management used this password, or one of the username/password combos defined in the Switch, so I checked Web Management again --- still could not log-in.

I then went back to the switch CLI, and looked at the output of the ”show users” command, and it looked sort of like this:



I don’t know why the “password” information in the command output looks so strange.  I decided to go back to Web Management and try username = super, and password = <the long string of characters shown> --- and that didn’t work either.  I then had the great idea of trying to use the Switch CLI command “username super nopassword”, just to see if I could possibly clear the password for username = super, possibly making it easier to log in to Web Management?  This was not the great idea I thought it would be --- it crashed/dumped the Switch. 

The Switch eventually rebooted itself & seemed to come back on-line normally, but I noticed that the “super” username now no longer existed, so I recreated it with the username command and a simple password, but the “show users” command still shows the simple password I had entered as a long string of garbled characters (encrypted?).

I went ahead and issued the “crypto key zeroize rsa”, “crypto key generate rsa”, and “aaa authentication login default local” commands --- and after all of this, I still can’t log in to the Switch via a web browser & Web Management.

This is getting a little frustrating at this point – I’m beginning to think there is something else going on here that we haven’t touched on yet. I was skimming through the FastIron Command Reference, and noticed a “web-management” command near the end of the list, with a bunch of modifiers --- is this anything that needs to be specified?  Could there be some setting in the web browser I’m using (Firefox) for Web Management that needs to be modified? (I also tried Chrome, and that browser doesn't work either...)  No matter what I have tried, I get the same reaction from Web Management --- every time I try entering any username & password into the login box, it just pops up a new box, and asks me again….

I think I’ve had enough for tonight --- I’ll try the AP factory reset procedure tomorrow….

Eric

[eric_hutchens]

Hi Imran,

I reviewed the material that you sent on performing a ‘factory reset’ on my R510 AP.  After looking through all of this, I had a few comments / questions before I begin this process.

1. In order to perform a ‘factory reset’ on an AP, you typically need to remove the AP from the wall or ceiling mount in order to be able access the ‘reset’ button on the back of the AP.  The instructions you supplied for the removal are pretty clear, and I was able to successfully test removing my Master AP from the ceiling.
   
   
2. It appears that the recommended way to proceed with the factory reset is to:
   + Unplug all APs from the switch except for the Master AP.
   + With the Master AP still running, remove it from the wall or ceiling.
   + While holding the freed AP in your hand, and with the Ethernet cable still connected
       to the POE port, press and hold the reset button.
   [However, there was a conflict in the various instruction sources here --- in one place it says to hold the reset button only until the PWR light first turns red, in another place it says to hold the reset button for 15-20 seconds AFTER the PWR light turns red, and another place said definitely DO NOT hold the rest button in for more than about 30 seconds or you might wipe out the AP into an unrecoverable state. While you could argue that all these instructions are not necessarily incompatible, I would prefer to only hold in the reset button as long as necessary to perform the factory reset --- I do not want to run the risk of accidentally bricking my AP. So – how long would you recommend that I hold in that AP ‘reset’ button in order to perform the factory reset? ]
   
   
3. I’m not exactly sure how to proceed after this point. The instructions indicate that to begin the AP reconfiguration, the AP needs to be powered (either through the POE Ethernet port, or by a power supply which I don’t have!), and also that the non-POE Ethernet port on the AP will need to be connected to my ISP Internet Gateway. My Internet Gateway & ICX-7150 Switch are located in a media cabinet that is some distance away from the Master AP mounting location, and I don’t think I have an Ethernet cable long enough to make the connection  between the Internet Gateway and the AP location. Once the factory reset had been performed on the AP --- can I de-power the AP, move it closer to the media cabinet, then reconnect to the Switch with a short cable (for power) and also to the Internet gateway using another short cable in order to complete the configuration?
   
   
4. When I configure the WLAN Name --- would it make things easier if I just re-use my existing WLAN name?  If I make up a new WLAN name, I’m assuming that afterwards, I will need to go to each of my 30+ clients and manually reconnect them to the newly named network.  But I’m hoping that, if I keep my WLAN Name and Password the same as current, the clients may all be able to automatically reconnect to the network without any manual intervention? Is this correct --- or am I doomed to several hours of manually reconnecting all my clients either way?
   
   
5. Once I perform the initial steps in the Unleashed ‘Typical Install’, and click ‘Finish’ on page 4 to begin the AP image load & configuration, I am assuming that the image for the AP is then downloaded from Ruckus via the direct connection between my AP & Internet Gateway?  When the AP configuration has finished, what firmware level will the AP have?  I just finished updating all my APs to firmware revision 200.15.6.12.304, and was told this was the best firmware choice for stable operation in Lennar homes --- is this the firmware revision I will have installed after the AP image has downloaded?  If not (maybe it downloads the latest firmware version available instead) --- should I then rollback to 200.15.6.12.304 ?
   
   
6. The instructional materials don’t really describe what should happen next. If I have temporarily moved the AP, as described in item 3 above, I assume I would:
   
   + Unplug the 2 Ethernet cables from the AP ports (de-powers the AP)
   + Take AP1 back to its original location in the house
   + Reconnect the Ethernet cable from the switch (to repower the AP),
   + Reattach the AP1 to the ceiling, and let it finish booting back up.
   + Test AP1 somehow to see if it is working?  (How do I know? Recommendations?)
   + If AP1 is working correctly, go back to the Switch, reconnect AP2, and let AP2 boot up.
       (The system should then automatically reconfigure AP2 to match AP1?)
   
   
7. AP Factory Reset process completed?
   Perform an Internet Speed Test using a network connected PC to see if the original ‘ISP speed throttling’ issue has been solved?

I’ll proceed with the AP factory reset process once I hear back from you, just to be sure that I have thought all of  this through correctly.

---   ---   ---

Also, one last item, concerning the ongoing inability to login to the Switch via the browser-based Web Management method --- I noticed this morning that the ‘enable super-user-password’ command I issued to the Switch didn’t seem to stick.  After all was said & done yesterday. I was able to get into ‘enable’ mode from the CLI this morning without a password again.  There was a command in the procedure that I may have missed --- “write memory” --- would this have caused the reversion back to the no password state?

Thanks,
Eric

[eric_hutchens]

Hi Imran, 

I have not heard anything back from you in the last couple of weeks, and I have been waiting to do the factory reset until I had a few questions answered. 

Are you still out there?

Thanks,
Eric