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When deployingSmartZone-Essentials (SZ-100/SZ-144)forRUCKUS ICX switch management, the switches establish a secure HTTPS-based connection to the controller using theSmartZone registrar IP. A common issue preventing connection occurs whenSmartZone is not configured to accept self-signed certificates—which are typically used by ICX switches by default for initial onboarding.

As described in theRUCKUS One Online Help – SmartZone Switch Management SetupandRUCKUS AI documentation, administrators must explicitly enable the option to“Allow Self-Signed Certificates”in the controller’sSwitch Management settings. Without this configuration, the SmartZone rejects the ICX connection request during SSL/TLS handshake, causing registration failure.

SNMPv3 configuration and DHCP options are unrelated to initial controller registration. Additionally,SmartZone-Essentialsfully supports ICX management;SmartZone High Scaleis not required.

Thus, the correct answer isC— the connection fails because the controller is not set to accept self-signed certificates from the switch.

When a valid SSL certificate is installed onSmartZone, it is not automatically applied to all services. TheWISPr (Wireless Internet Service Provider roaming) portalmust have the certificate explicitlymappedto it in theWeb Authentication settings.

According toRUCKUS One Online Help – Certificate Management and Portal Configuration, SSL certificates must be bound to individual services such asWISPr,SmartZone GUI, orAP web services. If a certificate is uploaded but not mapped, the portal continues using the default system certificate, leading to trust or validation errors for guest users.

The certificate does not need to be a wildcard, and WISPr can share a certificate with other services as long as it’s properly assigned.

SmartZone controllerssupport a range ofexternal authentication servicesfor bothproxy (via controller)andnon-proxy (direct-to-AAA)authentication mechanisms. According to theRUCKUS One Online Help – Authentication Services Configuration, the supported external services include:

Active Directory (AD) (A):Used for domain-based user authentication and group policy enforcement.

Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) (B):Provides user authentication through directory lookup, commonly used for enterprise identity systems.

RADIUS (E):A widely used AAA protocol that integrates with external servers such as FreeRADIUS, Cisco ISE, or Microsoft NPS for centralized authentication and accounting.

WhileSAMLandOAuthare used inRUCKUS Cloud and RUCKUS Onefor SSO (Single Sign-On) and API authentication, they arenot used for WLAN or AAA authenticationwithin SmartZone.TACACS+is not supported as an external client authentication method in SmartZone (it is only used for admin login on some platforms).

Therefore, the correct authentication services areA (AD),B (LDAP), andE (RADIUS).

TheSmartZone CLI command get scgprovides detailed information about an AP’s connection to its controller.

From the output provided:

The“State: RUN_STATE”line confirms the AP is fullyconnected, accepted, and managedby the controller (E). If the AP were pending, it would display “JOIN_STATE” or “CFG_STATE.”

Thepresence of two controller IPsand anSSH tunnel connection to 10.1.1.245indicates a control-plane tunnel established via NAT traversal, meaning the controller isbehind a control NAT IP(D).

The “Controller Cert Validation: disable” line shows certificate validation is off, but it doesn’t affect operational state. TheServer Listconfirms static IP discovery rather than DNS-based assignment.

Thus, the AP is active and managed by the controller, with communication handled through an SSH-based control tunnel.

SmartCastis RUCKUS’s patentedtraffic classification and Quality of Service (QoS)technology. It dynamically prioritizes network packets based on type, marking delay-sensitive applications such as voice or video for prioritized transmission.

PerRUCKUS One Online Help – SmartCast Traffic Prioritization, SmartCast identifies traffic categories usingDeep Packet Inspection (DPI)and applies corresponding802.1p/DSCP markingsacross wired and wireless segments.

This ensures consistent service quality for time-sensitive applications even during network congestion.BeamFlex+,PD-MRC, andChannelFlyoperate at the RF level and do not manage traffic prioritization or QoS policies.

Tothrottle download speedsfor specific device types—such as ChromeOS devices—andassign them to a dedicated VLAN, the appropriate configuration is tocreate a Device Policyand apply it to thetarget WLAN.

According to theRUCKUS One Online Help – Device Policy Management, andRUCKUS AI documentation – Policy Control and Device Analytics, Device Policies can classify client devices based onoperating system, MAC OUI, or fingerprinting data. Once identified, administrators can enforce rate limits, VLAN tagging, and access restrictions for that device type.

By applying this policy to theSTUDENT SSID, all detected ChromeOS clients will have bandwidth limits applied and their traffic segmented into the configured VLAN for management and security isolation.

Other options—such asLayer 2 ACLsorApplication Control Policies—manage packet-level permissions or app-level prioritization, not per-device bandwidth or VLAN segmentation. Creating a new WLAN is unnecessary since RUCKUS policy management allows dynamic device-based enforcement on a single SSID.

In high-density environments such as stadiums or auditoriums,ceiling height and materialdirectly influencesignal propagation, attenuation, and AP coverage patterns.

As defined inRUCKUS One Online Help – High-Density Wi-Fi Design Guidelines, proper AP placement and downtilt must account for ceiling height and reflective surfaces to avoid co-channel interference and ensure sufficient SNR for every seat zone.

RUCKUS Wi-Fi Planner includes modeling tools for line-of-sight optimization and reflective surface analysis. DHCP and VLAN configurations affect logical segmentation but not physical RF propagation.

Indoor WLAN coverageis influenced by multiple RF and physical parameters that determine how effectively a signal propagates and maintains connectivity quality.

According toRUCKUS One Online Help – RF Design FundamentalsandRUCKUS AI Documentation – Coverage Optimization, the three most impactful factors are:

AP Transmit Power (A):Directly affects signal reach; excessive power can cause co-channel interference, while low power results in coverage holes.

AP Orientation (C):Affects signal radiation direction—wall-mounted, ceiling-mounted, or tilted deployments impact pattern uniformity and coverage overlap.

Antenna Pattern (D):Defines gain and directional behavior; omnidirectional antennas provide uniform coverage, while directional models concentrate energy for targeted areas.

Antenna diversityandspatial multiplexingimprove throughput and reliability, but do not primarily determine raw coverage boundaries. “Earth bulge” is irrelevant for indoor deployments.

Whenspectrum analysis modeis enabled on aRUCKUS Access Point, the AP’s radios are temporarily dedicated to spectrum scanning and interference analysis, meaning they cannot serve wireless clients during that period. Therefore,new clients will not be able to join, and existing clients are typically disconnected.

According to theRUCKUS One Online Help – Spectrum Analysis ToolandRUCKUS AI Documentation – RF Monitoring and Optimization, spectrum analysis mode captures and reportsRF energy utilization, identifying interference sources such as non-Wi-Fi devices, microwave ovens, or Bluetooth. The AP alternates its radio into “sniffer” mode to analyze RF characteristics, during whichclient association and data traffic handling are suspended.

The output is visualized throughgraphs and real-time utilization charts, not histograms. Furthermore, an AP can only scan one band (either 2.4 GHz or 5 GHz) at a time — not both simultaneously.

Thus, the correct answer isA, since enabling spectrum analysis prevents new client associations while the AP is in scanning mode.

When configuring an802.1X-secured WLAN, RUCKUS systems such asSmartZone,RUCKUS One, orRUCKUS Cloudtypically rely on anexternal RADIUS serverfor user authentication. However, in the event of acontroller failure or connectivity loss to the RADIUS server,RUCKUS APs can continue to authenticate users locally if thelocal user databaseis enabled and configured.

TheLocal Authentication Databaseallows APs or controllers to store a limited set of credentials that can be used when external AAA services are unavailable. This ensurescontinued access and redundancyfor critical WLANs without requiring external dependency. According toRUCKUS One Online Help – WLAN Configuration and AAA Settings, enabling theLocal Authentication Databaseprovides fallback authentication for 802.1X clients during system or connectivity failures.

In contrast, theproxyandnon-proxymodes define how authentication requests are relayed to the RADIUS server, whileDynamic PSK (DPSK)is a separate authentication method that replaces 802.1X with per-user keys.