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Ruckus Wireless

MF2900

Q: What is the default login info of the MF2900?
A: The user name is "admin". The password should be left blank.

Q: I forgot my IP address - what do I do?
A: Reset to factory defaults; your MF2900 will default to 192.168.0.1.

Q: How do I reset to factory defaults?
A: With the unit powered on, insert a paper clip into the reset button on the back of the device and hold for 8 seconds.

Q: How do you perform a firmware upgrade on the MF2900?
A: Download the appropriate firmware file (available at support.ruckuswireless.com) to your computer. Open the WebUI of the MF2900 (default address http://192.168.0.1) and under the Maintenance section, click on "Upgrade". Click the "Browse" button and then choose the firmware file you downloaded.
Click the "update firmware" button.

Q: I cannot connect to the Internet, what should I do?
A: Verify Internet connectivity by directly connecting the PC to the broadband gateway. If this doesn't work, troubleshoot broadband connectivity with the service provider first before continuing with the MF2900. Verify that the PC can associate with the MF2900 and has proper SSID and security settings. You should be able to ping the MF2900 if you are properly associated.

Q: How do I obtain a support log from the MF2900?
A: Open the WebUI of the MF2900 (default address http://192.168.0.1). Under the Maintenance section, click on "Support"; then copy and paste support log text to desired destination.

Q: How do I determine the version of the firmware?
A: Open the WebUI of the MF2900 (default address http://192.168.0.1). Under the Information section, click on "System" and the firmware will be listed as "S/W version".

Q: Can I set a static IP address on my MF2900?
A: Open the WebUI of the MF2900 (default address http://192.168.0.1). Set this by clicking on "System" in the Configuration section of the WebUI.

Q: Can I connect an external antenna to MF2900?
A: The MF2900 does not support an external antenna; the MF2900 uses a smart antenna array to maximize coverage.

Q: How I connect multiple computers to MF2900?
A: The MF2900 only functions as an Access Point. If you need to perform DHCP and NAT functions you will need to connect the MF2900 to a Router. Please note that the Ruckus MediaFlex Router provides this functionality.

Q: Where can I buy MF2900 Wireless Access Gateway?
A: Click on the "where to buy" link at the top of www.ruckuswireless.com.

Q: What is the throughput performance of MF2900?
A: The MF2900 achieves 15 - 20Mbps of video-grade bandwidth in a typical 3,000 sq. ft. household.

Q: How many video streams can the MF2900 support?
A: The MF2900 achieves 15-20Mbps of video-grade bandwidth in a typical 3,000 sq ft. household. If each stream is about 4Mbps, you can expect to provide at least 3 streams of video.

Q: Which version of IGMP does the MF2900 support?
A: The MF2900 supports IGMPv1 and IGMPv2. The device is IGMPv3 "aware". This awareness includes enough v3 features to support IPTV, i.e. Report (aka Join) and Leave.

Q: Why is the protection mode disabled by default in the MF2900?
A: Protection mode affects performance due to additional processing; as a result, protection mode is disabled by default. Also, in general, if the mix of .11b client is small, and .11b traffic is not too high, the interference may be handled.

Q: Will local data transfer, such as a backup operation thru the MF2900, affect the video quality?
A: Due to the QOS features of the MF2900, video and data traffic are separated, with video receiving higher priority. All traffic coming FROM the MF2900 to another wireless client will not affect video quality. It is possible that heavy traffic from a wireless client TO the MF2900 can adversely affect video quality.

Q: How does the auto channel selection work in the MF2900?
A: Upon boot-up, the MF2900 will scan all wireless channels and select the least-utilized channel based on a proprietary algorithm.

Q: Does the MF2900 support VLANs?
A: The MF2900 will transparently deliver traffic that is VLAN tagged but does not process VLAN tags.

Q: When there are multiple STBs receiving video streams over WLAN, when does the MF2900 drop the video stream to a device that is having problems and requests for retransmits?
A: This is a configurable option; by default we have this set at 8 consecutive unsuccessful re-transmissions (a total of 9 attempts). Note that these 9 attempts translate to 90 attempts at the 802.11 Physical layer because the physical layer is set to retry 10 times before failing. So, 9 attempts * 10 retires by the physical layer = 90 consecutive PHY errors. A multicast client will not start receiving data again until it explicitly requests it through an IGMP join command.

Q: Which WEP key size does the MF2900 support?
A: Both 64-bit and 128-bit keys are supported.

Q: What is the Max and Min antenna gain in the MF2900?
A: Max antenna gain is 3.3 dB (single radiating element); typical system gain can be up to 9dB when multiple elements are used simultaneously. Min antenna gain on single element is 0 dB (it is turned off).

Q: How does mixture of 802.11b and 802.11g clients in a Wi-Fi network affect the video performance?
A: The mixing of .11b client(s) is bad for .11g streaming because .11b client uses CCK encoding while .11g uses both CCK and OFDM encoding (with OFDM being the default). As the .11b client does not understand OFDM, it tends to jumps on the airwave without any mechanism to check if the air is clear; this affects the quality of .11g streaming. To avoid this situation, turn on the "Protection mode" on the AP and enable both protection on CTS and RTS. The AP will tell the .11b client when to start transmit and will keep some sort of order /flow control on the air.

Q: Does the MF2900 support WPA and WPA-PSK?
A: The MF2900 supports WPA-PSK but not RADIUS authentication.

Q: Is the MF2900 compliant with 802.11e standard?
A: Yes, the device is standards-based on 802.11e for QOS and also offer a superset of QOS features optimized for video distribution.

Q: Does the MF2900 support auto power control?
A: Currently, the device does not support auto-power control; manual power control is configurable via the WebUI.

Q: What Wireless Security protocols does the MF2900 support?
A: The MF2900 supports Open, WEP (64 and 128-bit keys), WPA, and ACL (for MAC filtering).

Q: How many power levels does the MF2900 support?
A: 5 (Full, half, quarter, eighth and minimum).

Q: How does MF2900 classify traffic class?
A: We perform IGMP snooping, observe multicast UDP traffic and classify it as video traffic. We also can classify traffic based on customized L4 ports. The new MediaFlex Router contains a heuristic-based approach to traffic classification.

Q: How do I auto-provision the MF2900 and the MF2501?
A: Please see the auto-provisioning guide in the Ruckus customer support webpage.

Q: What impact do microwave ovens have on the operation of Ruckus products?
A: In some circumstances, you may find that a microwave oven adversely affects the performance of the Ruckus system. Some channels may interfere less than others with microwave ovens. Generally, channel 1 is good to use in situations of microwave oven interference, but this varies from manufacturer to manufacturer. Also, position the microwave oven and the Ruckus devices so that the distance between the microwave oven and the Ruckus devices is maximized. Lastly, make sure you are running the latest version of the Ruckus firmware available for your platform.

Q: Whenever I use a cordless phone, I get glitches in the video stream or the quality of the video degrades significantly. Why is that? How do I avoid this problem?
A: In some circumstances, you may find that a cordless phone adversely affects the performance of the Ruckus system. The best solution is to stop using this phone and use a cordless phone that doesn't operate on the 2.4Ghz frequency. Some channels may interfere less than others with the cordless phones; experiment with different channels by manually changing the channel on the Ruckus device. Also, position the cordless phone and Ruckus devices so that the distance between the units is maximized. Lastly, make sure you are running the latest version of the Ruckus firmware available for your platform.

Q: What is Ruckus BeamFlex technology and how do I benefit from it?
A: BeamFlex is the world's first smart-MIMO antenna technology that automatically steers Wi-Fi signals around interference, picking the best and most reliable path for multimedia traffic and ensuring picture-perfect transmission of delay sensitive traffic, such as IPTV.

Q: What is Ruckus SmartCast technology and how do I benefit from it?
A: The SmartCast is the first-of-its-kind traffic engineering technology that classifies, prioritizes and optimizes the delivery of multimedia traffic over standard 802.11 Wi-Fi. Providing 4 queues per client (voice, video, data and background) rather than per AP, the technology ensures that delay sensitive traffic gets to the proper destinations on time. Ruckus SmartCast is aware of multicast traffic and is able to transmit multicast traffic at full speed to receivers; traditional access points lack this functionality.