Testing Client Services

The Network Health page allows users to test LAN, WAN and connectivity to application servers with ease.

APs will emulate as virtual clients and perform the end-to-end connectivity tests (such as EAP, RADIUS, DHCP, DNS, ping, and traceroute) thereby connecting to a Wi-Fi network and the internet thereafter. It also performs speed tests to determine the quality of the connection. This feature therefore offers a comprehensive, end-to-end testing mechanism for users. You can create tests and customize them based on your network requirements. For example, you can create a test to determine network connectivity for a subset of APs within your network. There is no limitation on the number of APs selected to perform these tests. APs continue to serve actual clients while performing these tests. It is important to note that these tests generate test traffic over the wired interface. Mesh APs cannot participate in Network Health tests.

Follow these steps to create a test:

  1. From the navigation bar, click Network Health.
    The Network Health page is displayed containing information about the test created earlier such as the test name, number of APs tested, last run time, test results and so on. It also displays the total number of tests created, number of tests that passed and failed, and those that are pending and yet to be run on the network.
    Network Health Page
    • Name: Displays the name of the test
    • Type: Select from options such as On-Demand, Daily, Weekly, Monthly. Selecting Daily presents an option to choose the time of the day to run the test. Selecting Weekly presents options to select the day of the week and time for the test while selecting Monthly presents options to select the date of the month and time to run the test.
    • APs: Displays the number of APs in the zone
    • Run: Click to run the test
    • Last Run: Displays the timestamp of the last test run on the AP
    • APs Under Test: Displays the number of APs that have been tested
    • Last Result: Displays test success as a percentage. For example, if all the APs within the zone passed the test criteria, then 100% success is displayed as the result. If the test is ongoing, then the status "In progress" is displayed. For example, "In progress...(2 of 16APs tested)"
    Click to view the test results.
  2. Click Create Test.
    The Create Test page is displayed.
    Creating a Test
  3. Enter a name for the test
  4. Select the Client Type - options include Virtual Client and Virtual Wireless Client.

    Service Validation now supports 2 options - Virtual Client and Virtual Wireless Client. For the Virtual Client option, the target AP to be tested will itself emulate as a Wi-Fi client and test the connection stages, without any actual RF transmission over the air. The benefit of this option is that Service Validation tests for the non-wireless portion of the network (e.g. DHCP, RADIUS, DNS, etc.) and can be simultaneously tested quickly over a large number of APs with no impact on existing Wi-Fi services.

    For the Virtual Wireless Client option, there will be actual RF transmissions over the air. For every target AP to be tested, a corresponding "station AP" is selected. The station AP is a neighboring AP with the best signal strength, and during the test, this station AP will behave as a station (i.e. a Wi-Fi client) and wirelessly connect to the target AP, just like a regular Wi-Fi client, for the test. The benefit of this option is that the Service Validation test will comprehensively cover both wireless and wired portions of the network. However, during this test, the station AP may need to switch its operating channel to be the same as the target AP. This change in channel may cause some disruptions to the end user Wi-Fi experience (e.g. during video calls). Thus, when Virtual Wireless Client is selected, the test procedure will be done one AP at a time to minimize disruption to the network, resulting in a longer test duration compared to the Virtual Client option.

    Note: For Service Validation with virtual wireless client, only a neighbor on the same radio band can be used as the station AP. For example, if AP-1 has its 2.4 GHz radio turned off, it will not be used as the station AP for AP-2 even if AP-1 is the closest to AP-2 when the test is run on 2.4 GHz.
    After you choose one of the options, the Service Validation test cannot be modified. You can however create another test or clone this test to change the client type.
  5. Click Next. The AP selection page is displayed.
  6. Select the APs you want to include to the test from the network.
  7. Click Next. The Settings page is displayed.
    Configure the following options:
    • WLAN: Select the WLAN
    • Authentication Type: after the WLAN is created, RUCKUS Analytics automatically selects the authentication method. However, you can still manually select the method as necessary.
    • Radio Band: Select the radio frequency that you want to test the APs at - options include 2.4 GHz, 5GHz, and 6 GHz.
    • Username: Enter the username. Some authentication methods such as OpenAuth and WPA2-Personal do not demand entry of login credentials but others such as WISPr and Web Authentication would require you to enter your login credentials. For some authentication methods such as Guest Access, the username is already populated requiring only password entry.
    • Password: Enter the password
    • DNS: Select one of the options - Default or Custom to assign IP address to APs
    • Ping Destination Address: Enter the IP address (internal or external) or URL of the ping destination
    • Traceroute Destination Address: Enter the IP address or URL of the traceroute destination
  8. Click Save to save the test configuration.
After the test is created, its is displayed in the Network Health page.

You can click Run to run the test to determine the network connectivity. After you run the test, results of the test are displayed under Last Result. Click the Clone, Edit and Delete icons respectively to clone the test, edit test configuration options and to delete it (). You can only edit the test that you create.