Wow, what a Ruckus!😄 It became time to do a technology upgrade of a ZoneDirector 1100 controller with r700 access points (APs) to a ZoneDirector 1200 controller - simple enough, right? Ha ha, not to be!
Ruckus Tech Support was helpful, they told me to delete each AP from the ZD1100 and then "Approve" them for addition on the ZD1200. Unfortunately, they didn't compatibility check the firmware revisions between the ZD1100 and 1200 - and it turned out they were sufficiently distant as to cause the r700 access points to enter an "Upgrading Firmware" endless loop, prohibiting them from coming online into the desired "Connected" status😞
I spent a lot of time trying to resolve the issue and eventually found this helpful post by Ryan Yoder on the Yoder Network site. But even better, I was fortunate to secure two-hours of assistance from a Ruckus tech support engineer. He recommended downgrading the firmware on the new ZD to a compatible version for the old ZD - then moving the access points and config over to the new ZD and upgrading the firmware there! This has the added benefit of preserving all your wireless network configurations while upgrading all the APs at once, too. There are some rubs, however. If there's enough difference between the old ZD rev and the new ZD's latest rev, it may be necessary to do several incremental upgrades to avoid issues.
I am frankly amazed that Ruckus hasn't made the migration process more comprehensive and easier to perform! But once it's done, it's done - and with a big sigh of relief, too!😊✌
