Location-based services (LBS)
LBS stands for location-based services. With LBS on, a venue’s RUCKUS APs report every Wi-Fi device they hear and its signal strength, plus how busy each radio’s channel is. R1-MCP uses those reports to place clients on the floor plan from measured signal, instead of drawing them on the AP they’re connected to.
What LBS adds
Section titled “What LBS adds”| Where | What you get |
|---|---|
| Locate, on the Floor Map page | Live client positions, updated every second, in 2-D or 3-D |
clients layer | A dot for each client with a measured position, with a ring showing how uncertain it is |
airtime layer | Each radio’s measured channel occupancy |
footfall layer | The distinct devices each AP heard in the last 60 seconds, passers-by included. It isn’t a headcount |
heardBy layer | One device’s measured position and every AP that heard it. Set lbsClient to its MAC |
The layers are described in full on Floor map layers. Without LBS, they return a finding such as “This venue has no LBS source, so no AP is reporting measured airtime”, and Locate shows clients on their AP only.
What LBS needs
Section titled “What LBS needs”- The Floorplan Mapping feature, turned on under Features in the dashboard.
- AP firmware 7.0.300 or later.
- APs placed on the venue’s floor plans, for positions. Airtime and devices heard work without placement.
- 2.4 or 5 GHz. RUCKUS LBS doesn’t report 6 GHz.
Setting up an LBS source
Section titled “Setting up an LBS source”You can’t add an LBS source from the dashboard yet.
Adding one creates an LBS server profile named r1-mcp f-… in RUCKUS One
(Policies & Profiles → LBS Server) and activates it on the venue. RUCKUS One
allows one LBS profile per venue, so this replaces any LBS profile the venue
already uses. Removing the source deactivates and deletes the profile.
The APs report to a broker that R1-MCP hosts. A probe on your LAN can be the broker instead, but only at an address reachable from the internet. RUCKUS One connects to the broker before it tells the APs to, so a LAN-only address never works.
How accurate are LBS positions?
Section titled “How accurate are LBS positions?”A position is worked out from the signal strength at the strongest four APs that heard the device on one band.
- A device heard by only one AP gets a ring around that AP, not a point.
- A position with a large uncertainty is shown as “somewhere on this floor (±N m)”.
- A position older than 30 seconds is treated as stale.
What LBS keeps
Section titled “What LBS keeps”- Positions are held live, in memory. R1-MCP keeps no position history, and the trails in Locate exist only in your browser.
- Randomised MAC addresses are counted, but never listed or kept.
- The LBS password R1-MCP generates for the profile is stored encrypted.
Known limits
Section titled “Known limits”- If the connection to the broker drops, RUCKUS One can take up to an hour to reconnect, and LBS data stops until it does.
- Locate draws up to 400 positions per floor. The rest are counted.