
Release Notes

NXA-WAP-1000     802.11a/b/g Wireless Access Point, USA
NXA-WAP-1000     802.11a/b/g Wireless Access Point, ROW
NXA-WAPZD-1100   Wireless Lan Zone Director

FG2255-51 (NXA-WAP-1000, USA)
FG2255-53 (NXA-WAP-1000, ROW)
FG2255-75 (NXA-WAPZD-1100)

Current Firmware Version: 9.5 (9.5.0.0.156)
Release Date: 03/20/2013

Prerequisites: 

ZoneDirector 1100
Changes only applies to the ZD1100 (not the ZD1000).
The ZD1100 must be at 9.3.2.6.19 or later to accept the upgrade.


What’s New in ZoneFlex Software Release 9.5 

This application note describes the new features available in Version 9.5 of the AMX Wireless family. This document assumes familiarity with the AMX Wireless product line and 
the features of earlier releases including version 9.4. 

Highlights of this Release 

Software release 9.5 provides Enterprises, HotZone Operators and Managed Service 
Providers a higher performing, more reliable, and easier to deploy and use way of providing 
wireless access to diverse groups of users across multiple locations. The few features and 
enhancements in this release include: 

• Transmit Beamforming 
• DHCP Relay 
• Proxy ARP and ARP Broadcast filter (per SSID for tunnel and AP) 
• Wi-Fi CERTIFIED Pass point™ support (802.11u/Hotspot 2.0) 
• WMM-AC 
• Device Policy Enforcement 
• Customizable Channel Range Control 
• Performance Analysis with RF Pollution 
• TACACS+ Support for ZoneDirector, Access Points and FlexMaster 
• FlexMaster Improved Reporting Fidelity 
• FlexMaster High Availability 


Supported Platforms 

FG2255-75 (NXA-WAPZD-1100) 
FG2255-51 (NXA-WAP-1000, USA)
FG2255-53 (NXA-WAP-1000, ROW) 


What’s New in Version 9.5 

1)Transmit Beamforming 
In addition to Ruckus Wireless’ proprietary BeamFlex technology, ZoneFlex Access Points now 
support chip level transmit beamforming (TxBF) which complements BeamFlex to provide 
enhanced interference mitigation. Transmit Beamforming works with supported clients and 
across Ruckus SmartMesh links. 

Customer Benefits 
• Better range, stronger signal and higher data rates to clients and SmartMesh links 
• 9dB of Signal to Interference plus Noise (SINR) improvement when combined with BeamFlex 
• 15dB of Interference Mitigation when combined with BeamFlex

2)DHCP Relay 
The DHCP Relay Agent improves tunneled WLAN performance by preventing DHCP flooding 
across tunnel interfaces. Broadcast DHCP messages, common from Windows OS, are limited to 
the client’s AP tunnel/radio interface and unicast DHCP messages are returned to the client 
instead of broadcasting messages. The DHCP Relay Agent allows forwarding DHCP requests 
directly to a DHCP server without the need to configure DHCP forwarding on a router interface. 

Customer Benefits 
• Allows DHCP discovery and operation across routable subnets 
• Improved tunnel performance by limiting DHCP broadcast traffic 

3)Proxy ARP and ARP Broadcast filter (per SSID for tunnel and AP) 
The Proxy ARP and ARP Broadcast Filter features significantly reduce network traffic caused by 
broadcast ARP/ICMPv6 messages on mesh and access WLANs. These services are available at 
the Access Point radios and ZoneDirector tunnel interfaces. Enabling these features makes it 
possible to disable broadcast forwarding, greatly reducing unnecessary network traffic while 
still enabling IP network applications to function. Additionally, limiting ARP/ICMPv6 messages 
to the wireless clients increase battery life. 

Customer Benefits 
• Improves network performance by preventing ARP broadcast flooding for large networks 
• Improves Wi-Fi client battery life 


4)Wi-Fi Certified Passpoint™ support (802.11u/Hotspot 2.0) 
To address user experience and operator needs for hotspots, ZoneDirector now supports Wi-Fi 
CERTIFIED Passpoint™ hotspots (in addition to legacy hotspot services). Utilizing Hotspot 2.0 
(Wi-Fi CERTIFIED Passpoint™) and IEEE 802.11u specifications, Hotspot 2.0 allows Wi-Fi 
CERTIFIED Passpoint™ devices to easily find, select and connect automatically in a security-
protected fashion. 

Customer Benefits 
• Automated secure Wi-Fi connectivity to Hotspot 2.0 enabled networks 
• Automatic network discovery and selection of Hotspot 2.0 services without user authentication 
• Streamlined network access with automatic authentication and WPA2 security to Hotspot 2.0 services 


5)WMM-AC 
ZoneDirector now supports Call Admission Control (or Wi-Fi Multimedia Admission Control, 
WMM-AC). WMM-AC improves the performance of VoIP Wi-Fi devices by preventing 
oversubscription of bandwidth for voice calls. This feature limits the number of WMM-AC 
capable VoIP devices that can connect based on airtime usage for quality assurance in VoIP 
WLANs. 

Customer Benefits 
• Maintains Wi-Fi VoIP call quality by preventing call oversubscription 
• VoIP call connection limits based on real-time airtime utilization 


6)Device Policy Enforcement 
Administrators can now apply rules to allow, deny, rate limit or assign devices to separate 
VLANs based on operating system/device type. Completely managed by the ZoneDirector, this 
allows segregating network access on a single SSID without the need to maintain user roles or 
RADIUS/Active Directory attributes. 

Customer Benefits 
• Control network access per operating system/device type 
• Permits flexible access rules without the need for external input 
 

7)Customizable Channel Range Control 
Administrators can now manually configure which channels to use for automatic channel 
selection. The customized ranges are used by ZoneDirector’s automatic channel selection 
algorithms, ChannelFly and Background Scanning. Control is configured based on Access Point 
Groups, providing granular control for diverse deployment environments. 

Customer Benefits 
• Precise control over available channel usage 
• Allows automatic channel selection while avoiding specific channels 

8)Performance Analysis with RF Pollution 
The ZoneDirector Web interface now displays performance statistics graphs for individual 
Access Points and clients. Performance Analysis provides a unique view into RF health without 
requiring advanced Wi-Fi chips. Ruckus is introducing two new metrics, RF Pollution and 
Estimated Channel Capacity (Mbps), to allow easy understanding of Wi-Fi’s potential 
performance and factors that inhibit maximum throughput. The Performance Analysis with RF 
Pollution feature is supported on all existing access points. 

Customer Benefits 
• RF Pollution shows impact of performance robbing interference without the need to upgrade access points 
• Easily understand Wi-Fi performance for Access Points and clients 


9)TACACS+ Support for ZoneDirector, Access Points and FlexMaster 
TACACS+ is now supported as a new ZoneDirector, FlexMaster and AP administrator 
authentication method for admin authentication and level authorization (in addition to RADIUS, 
LDAP and Active Directory). This allows integration with customer’s existing network wide 
admin authentication systems. 

Customer Benefits 
• Integration with existing TACACS+ authentication systems 
• Single point of authentication and group based 
 

10)FlexMaster Improved Reporting Fidelity 
This feature increases the range and the granularity on reporting. The new release allows 
reports to be run on 31 days’ worth of data instead of the previous limit of 7 days. In addition, 
FlexMaster 9.5 allows reporting granularity at 15 minute intervals, increased from the previous 
hourly interval. 

Customer Benefits 
• Wider reporting timeframe to spot weekly trends 
• Day of week comparisons across 4 weeks 


11)FlexMaster High Availability 
FlexMaster High Availability (managed via VMware High Availability) facilitates the transparent 
failover from a Primary to a Secondary Virtual Machine. When the primary server fails for a 
variety of reasons including hardware failure or OS failure, the secondary server takes over 
without loss of state. This is implemented & tested with VMware 5.0 ESXi. 

Customer Benefits 
• Protect against server hardware and OS failure 
• Minimize downtime 
 

