Ruckus Unleashed - Mesh - Root AP Election Optimization

[marco_eichstet1]

Hello,

I think there is an issue with the Root-AP Election within a Unleashed Mesh-Network.
I checked how a AP decides if he is a Root-AP or a Mesh-AP.
From my observations i saw the AP tries to reach the Default Gateway over his Ethernet Interface. If the GW is reachable it will act as a Root-AP. If not, Mesh Role will be choosen.

If the Default Gateway is not accessable, the Master-AP changes his Role to Mesh-AP and reboots (Mesh-AP cannot be a Master). This can result in a complete Network Outage because all Root-APs thinking they are Mesh-APs now.

I had issues on a customer site where the Gateway was rebooted each night.
On another Installation i started the Root-APs while the Default Gateway was not reachable. In that case, the Ruckus Unleashed Network was not able to form.

I think its important to be able to set a second IP and make it clear for Users which IPs are used to decide the Roles. Maybe list as first IP the Default Gateway as a greyed out field and a second field where a User can set a second custom IP.

Thanks.

Kind Regards
Marco

[joshua_lee1]

That's an interesting problem since the fundamental difference between any mesh or root AP is either wired or wireless. Any AP connected to ethernet is a root AP, any AP that hops back to another AP over wireless for network connectivity is automatically a mesh node. I never heard of an AP being converted to a non-root mesh node while being connected to a switch port. Is there a reason mesh is enabled on the Ruckus Unleashed network if all APs are connected to a switch?

[marco_eichstet1]

No. This is not what i have seen.
If the AP has a wired Connection but not able to reach his default Gateway will not work as a Root-AP. It's not just wired or not.

The First time i saw this was where the Master rebooted each night and the Master Role changed to another Root. There where two Root-APs. Each day the Master changed. Exactly at 03:00 o'clock. We checked the Logs and had no idea. Also the Ruckus Support did not get to solve this. After searching again and again for something within the AP logs and Syslogs i have found that the Master rebooted because he changed from Root to Mesh-AP. After that the Firewall-Admin told us that his Firewall reboot eacht night at 03:00. After stopping the Firewall-Reboot, it worked!

Think also that a AP can be a Mesh-AP and also have a wired Connection. In my Case there is an IP-Camera connected to the wired Port of the Mesh-AP.

[joshua_lee1]

That's true. An AP can also be mesh and wired. But the purpose of a mesh network is to extend network connectivity to an AP that cannot be connected to the wired network, which has to be wirelessly connected to a wired root AP. Unless you enable mesh for redundancy. 

In your case, is the mesh AP connected to the wire? If it is, is there a reason you're enabling mesh?

[marco_eichstet1]

Mesh can also be used to bridge two Layer 2 Networks.
This is a normal Installation from Ruckus Guides.




In my Case Mesh is not for redundancy.
In my Case i have multible Root-APs mounted at a Building.
Over a big parking area there a multible Mesh-APs who has a IP-Camera attached.
So yes, my Mesh-APs are basicly connected with a wire but only connected to a IP-Camera. So Mesh is needed to get a connection to my Root-APs at the Building where the Server Infrastructure resides.