Hi Daniel,

I think I need to better explain what I'm seeing.  I have taken APs from 2 different vendors, and plugged a 1 foot Cat6 cable into each AP.  I then plugged that AP/cable pair directly into each of the ports below on Unit 2 of my stack, and made the following observations regarding the AP's power state upon being plugged in.

Port  Ruckus  Meraki

17        Y           Y

19        Y           Y

21        N           Y

23        N           Y

25        N           Y

27        N           Y

29        N           Y

31        N           Y

33        Y           Y

35        N           Y

37        Y           Y

39        Y           Y

where N=no power to AP, Y=AP powers up.

I need to solve for why ports listed with a N cannot give the expected behavior with the needed (Ruckus) device.

A Cat6 cable can consistently power an AP, which is expected.

Each port *can* provide power to one brand of AP- Meraki.

Earlier today, I discussed this with Ruckus, who attributes the problem to the switch, as the AP can work in the right ports. Indeed, if they negotiate power correctly, the AP works as expected

Replacing existing Cat5e and 6 wiring with Cat3 between the panels and jack is not a practical solution, and my testing says that with a Meraki AP, Cat6 works every time.

When the Meraki negotiates, it shows as a Class 0. That range is defined as 0.44 to 12.95W. This is appropriate for a device with a spec sheet that says it takes 6.5W max.

When a Ruckus AP negotiates power delivery properly, it negotiates as a Class 3 device. That is the high power range is 6.49W to 12.95W This seems odd, as per the Ruckus spec sheet, draw is

idle: 1.5W

Typical: 3.2W

Peak: 7

I'm wondering if there's something amiss in the power negotiations between these devices, and on which side the error lies.

For the record, testing documented above is directly to the switch, not using building wiring.

Cat3 cabling is not a commonly found object here, I'll either need some fortune to find one, or to make one.

I have a VERY similar situation with a PowerConnect 5524P and 6 Ruckus 7982 Access Points.  In my scenario I can get any of those 6 AP's to power up on any port but only up to 4 of the 6.  As soon as I plug in #5, it won't light up.  If I unplug #3 for instance, #5 will immediately power up.  Can you test this scenario on yours and report if you see the same thing, reaching some sort of quantity limit?  Thanks.

For the record we are running Cat6 Plenum cable directly to each AP, so a direct connect from the switch to each AP.  We see the same results whether the length of those cables are 3 feet each of 200 feet.

I can't, because I can't consistently get my APs to power.  Sounds like you're able to take up to 4 7982 and plug them into any ports that you choose, and you'll get power- right?  I can't get that... probability is that my 7372 won't power up if I choose a random port.

I have only 4 PoE devices on my switches- the Ruckus gear.  I can't be approaching a power budget.

My results are consistent no matter what length of cable I try.

Do you have other PoE gear on your network, and do you see unexpected behaviors there?

I've opened a support ticket with Ruckus, but they claim everything is working just fine, and that it's appropriate for a 7372 to identify as a class 3 device, as the wattage draw can increase during troubleshooting steps.

You symptoms seem similar to supportforums.cisco.com/.../2165089

I was able to through trial and error get 5 of the 6 devices powered up yesterday.  I reset the Power Limit Mode parameter under System > General > Power Over Ethernet >> Power Limit Mode = Max Port Power (default was Port).  Based on this note in 4.1.0.10 release notes www.dell.com/.../powerconnect-5524p, it says an issue with Shoretel IP230G phones was resolved by "Additional global option was added to allow switch to provide power up to the max limit of 15.4W regardless of device POE class."

That change seemed to have no effect.  I reloaded the switch and checked the power level used at Switching > Ports > Green Ethernet Config

With 1 AP plugged in it was 11829 mW or 11.8W

With 2 AP plugged in it was 13236 mW or 13.2W (diff of 1.4W)

With 3 AP plugged in it was 14643 mW or 14.6W (diff of 1.4W)

With 4 AP plugged in it was 16050 mW or 16.0W (diff of 1.4W)

With 5 AP plugged in it was 17457 mW or 17.4W (diff of 1.4W)

So these AP's seem to be very consistently using 1.4W of power which is WELL below the overall capacity of this switch.  It is WELL below the individual port max of 15.4W.  Unfortunately I don't have any other equipment that is POE to plug in to test nor do I have another POE switch that I can compare to the 5524P.

Hi

Do you have green ethernet enabled?

If you have, it's worth disabling it and trying your APs again

config

interface gig xxxx

no green-ethernet short-reach

no eee enable

exit

Our symptoms are very close to this in fact I could duplicate the 4 port thing on the PowerConnect 5424P.  I could plug in one AP in each 4 port quadrant and get it to light up.  Meaning I plug one into port 3 (leaving 1,2,4 open) and it works.  I plug in the second AP to port 5 (leaving 6,7,8 open) and it works.  I was able to get all 6 lit up by only using 1/4 of the ports all spaced (see the pattern?, 2 top port and 2 bottom ports together).  Obviously not the way it's supposed to work, just passing on results....

No, all the green Ethernet stuff is disabled.

I have tested both having EEE and Short Reach Energy savings en and disabled, no change in results.

Also tried  gsfisher13 's advice re Port vs Max Port Power options, didn't see a change.

We swapped out 5524P with a 6224P and all POE problems with Ruckus Wifi access points went away.  The 5524P's will only power 1 Ruckus Wifi AP for every 4 ports.  The underlying hardware of the 5524P Meraki hardware is not operating the way it should be according to specs.  Save yourself a headache, if you are running Ruckus wifi equipment avoid the 5500 series switches.

I have to endorse the last sentence, and expand it to "if running anything PoE, skip the Dell 5500 series".  I found today that 2 of my PoE Ruckus APs dropped off the network last week, and nothing I can do will bring them back working on the ports I need them attached to.

Even if I did, why should I believe this won't happen again in a day, a week or a month?

This really sucks, Dell.

After your 5524 experience, why did you stick with Dell?

Yes, Dell says the problem is with Ruckus.

I've talked to Ruckus. Their input on the topic?

"I assure you Steve this is not our product's fault. Our product is
strictly 802.11af compliant. Have you tried putting the AP on another
switch through PoE and has it seen the same results."

So I'm stuck between 2 vendors who say their product can't be the issue, and displeased with both of them.

Here's what I don't get: on May 29 at 21:17:15 I lost contact with one of my APs. 8 seconds later, at 21:17:23 I lost contact with the other.  My experience tells me that 2 APs don't drop off within 8 seconds of each other without a common element being included: the switches they're connected to. 

I can't get either of these to power back on using the PoE ports and cables that were working on 5/29 at 21:16.  Right now, I'm down 2 APs because these 2 allegedly standards compliant products aren't playing properly together.

Can the Cat3 test be legitimately by replacing the 6" cables between the switches and patch panel?  Replacing existing Cat5e and 6 building runs with Cat3 is impractical.

Additionally, if the problem is not in the 5500 series, how did gsfisher13 experience the same issues with a 5524, then immediately get rid of his problems by moving to a 6224?  See his post in this thread from 5/24/13.

Just want to add to this.

We just deployed 30 Ruckus ZoneFlex 7982 APs (http://www.ruckuswireless.com/products/zoneflex-indoor/7982) on 2x 5548 PowerConnect Switches.

Basically about 15 APs per switch but it can only power 7 or 8 APs per switch just like what others here had experienced. We had a Ruckus Wireless Engineer stopped by at our building to take a look at the problem with the deployment. After he saw the switch he right away recommended us to replace it with another model because he had the same issue on his previous deployment that 5500 series was notorious in powering up the Ruckus APs. I wish I knew this sooner, right? 

Instead of wasting anytime in troubleshooting it (thanks to this forum :emotion-1: ), we ended up replacing it with the 6248 series and it should be here next week. Previously, we did have a good experience with the 6000 series and Dell branded Aruba APs on our other building. It has 0 problem powering 24 APs so hopefully we will have the same great results.

I'm not sure which party should take the blame but I think DELL and Ruckus just need to sit down on their lab and test the heck out of each other equipment to make sure it's compatible with each other so any customers don't have to deal with this problem anymore. Or at least an advance warning from the SE that certain brand or product isn't compatible with each other will also be helpful.

Because we all agreed here that there's definitely a problem between 5500 series and Ruckus APs.

Just my two cents.