Skip to content

Latest commit

 

History

History
125 lines (91 loc) · 4.7 KB

RuckusCountryCodeChange.md

File metadata and controls

125 lines (91 loc) · 4.7 KB
Raw

Bypassing the Country Lock for US model Ruckus AP

Ruckus access points may be cheaper to buy from the USA.

But Ruckus locks the country code on US model access points (unlike WW models), so you can't use the correct WiFi bands for other countries. And US model access points will refuse to join any existing Unleashed or ZoneDirector network which doesn't have its country code set to US. The country cannot be changed from the Web interface, and if you try to SSH in and set countrycode XX from the CLI then you receive an error: illegal to change country code.

Fortunately, it's possible to bypass the country lock, or even turn a locked US AP into an unlocked WW AP...

Permanently removing the country lock from an Unleashed AP

This patch should be uploaded as a Preload Image (Admin & Services > Administration > Upgrade > Local Upgrade > Preload Image).

The upload process completes the unlock; no upgrade will be offered. Simply wait a few seconds after the upload, then force-refresh your browser.

The option to change your country code will now be available at Admin & Services > System > Country Code

Although the patch can be directly downloaded and used, I recommend either creating the patch yourself or decrypting the patch to verify it does only what it should.

Changing the locked Country Code

SSH into the AP (using the same credentials you use to log into the web dashboard).

If your AP is running Unleashed firmware, then you'll need to get it into AP mode:

enable
ap-mode

Manually update the country code (my example changes it to New Zealand):

set rpmkey wlan-country-code NZ

The real set countrycode NZ would have set this rpmkey, but also fixed up the wifi channels. We're not running the fixup code, so it's safest to do a factory reset now:

set factory
reboot

Job done.

Manually removing the country lock (for pre-2020 AP models, including non-Unleashed APs)

1) Obtain a root shell

The unlocking procedure requires you to temporarily install an older software version.
Ensure the installed access point software was released in November 2019 or earlier. Otherwise, download an older version from https://support.ruckuswireless.com/software and do an 'upgrade'.

SSH into the AP using the same credentials you use to log into the web dashboard, then break out to a root shell. There is a different procedure depending on whether or not your AP is running Unleashed software:

ruckus> enable 
ruckus# debug 
You have all rights in this mode.
ruckus(debug)# script 
ruckus(script)# exec ../../../bin/sh


Ruckus Wireless ZoneDirector -- Command Line Interface
Enter 'help' for a list of built-in commands.

ruckus$ stty echo
ruckus$

You won't be able to see yourself typing stty echo. Calling stty echo restores local echo so you can see what you're typing.

rkscli: Ruckus

Now type ";/bin/sh;" and hit enter (you won't be able to see what you're typing)

grrrr

Instead of grrrr, any other random dog noise could be printed to the screen.

rkscli: !v54!
What's your chow:

Now hit enter twice

Ruckus Wireless ZoneDirector -- Command Line Interface
Enter 'help' for a list of built-in commands.

ruckus$

2) Remove the Country Lock

# bsp set fixed_ctry_code 0
# bsp commit

Should see something like this:

Saving flash .....
bdSave: sizeof(bd)=0x7c, sizeof(rbd)=0xd0
  caching flash data from /dev/mtd8 [ 0x00000000 - 0x00010000 ]
  updating flash data [0x00000000 - 0x0000007c] from [0x7f8cdc88 - 0x7f8cdd04]
  updating flash data [0x00008000 - 0x000080d0] from [0x7f8cdd04 - 0x7f8cddd4]
_erase_flash: offset=0x0 count=1
Erase Total 1 Units
Performing Flash Erase of length 262144 at offset 0x0 done
  caching flash data from /dev/mtd8 [ 0x00000000 - 0x00010000 ]
  verifying flash data [0x00000000 - 0x0000007c] from [0x7f8cdc88 - 0x7f8cdd04]
  verifying flash data [0x00008000 - 0x000080d0] from [0x7f8cdd04 - 0x7f8cddd4]
... Changes saved to flash

Now reboot:

# reboot

Your Access Point is now permanently unlocked. You can safely upgrade to any newer/older version of the software.