Building Ruijie Networks from Scratch: Practical Guide

Ruijie networks are built on a simple and clear design philosophy: a hierarchical network structure consisting of three basic layers. This ensures ease of management and future scalability without the need to restructure the entire network later.

This guide explains step by step how to build Ruijie networks, starting from device selection and physical connection, through configuration via the Ruijie cloud platform, and ending with logical network segmentation using Virtual Local Area Networks (VLANs). For more insights, you can also explore this guide on the best Ruijie switches for connecting surveillance cameras.

Ruijie’s Simple Network Hierarchy

The basic structure of any Ruijie network consists of:

Router: Provides the network with internet service from the ISP and serves as the interface between the internet and the internal network.
Core Switch: Aggregates all access switches via fiber optic cables and acts as the backbone of the internal network.
Access Switches: Usually distributed according to floors, departments, or geographical areas. Computers, printers, servers, and wireless access points are connected to them.
Wireless Access Points: Provide Wi-Fi coverage. They are available in indoor versions and outdoor versions (Outdoor) such as the weatherproof Ruijie Reyee RG-EST100-E Wireless Bridge resistant to rain, heat, and humidity.

The main idea behind this division is that routers typically have no more than ten ports, and few routers support wireless networking directly. Therefore, Ruijie internal networks require an organized distribution layer through multiple switches instead of relying on the router alone.

Devices Used in Building Ruijie Networks

Router

The model used is RG-1510X. It supports up to 1500 users, has eight internet ports, and two 10G fiber optic ports (you can also explore advanced alternatives like the Reyee RG-EG209GS Router or the Reyee RG-EW3000GX Wi-Fi 6 Router).

Core Switch

The model is NBS5200-24SFP. It has 24 ports of 1G fiber optic (SFP), plus two or four ports that can be used as SFP+ at 10G speeds (alternative options within this series are also available, such as the Reyee RG-NBS5200-48GT4XS Switch). Fiber ports can be replaced with copper UTP ports when needed to connect using regular network cables instead of fiber.

Types of Fiber Optic Cables Used in Ruijie Networks

You must distinguish between cable types based on color and usage:

OM4 (Light Green / Aqua): Multi-mode cable, reaches up to approximately 550 meters.
OM3 (Light Blue): Older Multi-mode cable, reaches approximately 300-350 meters at 1G speed.
OS (Yellow): Single-mode cable, supports 1G or 10G connections depending on the SFP transceiver used.

Important Warning: It is strongly advised never to use SFP transceivers from non-Ruijie brands on Ruijie devices. They may appear to work, but they often cause serious temperature issues that can burn the device internally and immediately void the warranty. Always use original transceivers such as the Ruijie 10G SFP LR SM Transceiver or the Ruijie 1G Mini-GBIC LX SM Transceiver. When examining damaged devices, logs clearly show the use of non-original transceivers.

Adding the Project via Ruijie Cloud Platform

Ruijie networks can be managed through the free Ruijie mobile app available on Android, iOS, and Huawei, or via web browser (Microsoft Edge is preferred to avoid some security vulnerabilities and delays that occasionally occur with Chrome).

Steps to Add a New Project:

Create a new project, name it, and set the correct time zone.
Add devices using one of the following methods: scan the Serial Number directly with the camera, type it manually, or scan a saved photo from the album.
Once you add one device from the network (it doesn’t have to be the router specifically), the platform automatically discovers the rest of the connected devices within a few minutes.

Note on Password

The project password is a single password applied to all devices under it. This saves time and reduces errors from setting different passwords for each device — a common issue in other management platforms.

Monitoring and Control Interface in Ruijie Networks

The platform provides several screens for network management:

Devices Screen (Topology): Displays the actual network topology, including each device’s model, IP address, connection type (fiber or UTP), and internet connectivity status.
Device List: A detailed inventory of every device with its status. Green color means the device is connected to the internet, while black means it is offline.
Sync Status: Shows the data exchanged between the device and the cloud. This is purely operational data (device status and settings) and does not include any user data or internal traffic.
Local Web Interface (Local Web/Eweb): A backup option when the internet is down. You can access the device directly via its internal IP address, provided you are connected to the same local network.

An additional feature available on the router is Deep Packet Inspection (DPI), which allows monitoring the type of traffic passing through the network (YouTube, Zoom, WhatsApp, Facebook, etc.) and determining consumption volume per application.

Device Naming as an Organizational Practice

It is highly recommended to rename each device to reflect its role and location (e.g., Router, Core-Switch, Switch-F01, Switch-F02, etc.) instead of relying on default names. This simple practice greatly facilitates tracking and troubleshooting later, especially when dealing with a large number of devices.

Virtual Networks (VLANs)

Concept

A VLAN is a logical group with an identification number. It is used to group devices or users who share common interests, isolating them from the rest of the network or connecting them together as needed. A common example: separating the Accounting department network from the IT department or warehouse networks. This divides a large network into smaller, more secure virtual networks.

Access Ports vs. Trunk Ports

Access Port: Allows only one VLAN to pass. Usually used for end-user devices such as computers.
Trunk Port: Allows multiple VLANs to pass simultaneously. Used to connect network devices (e.g., between router and core switch, or between core switch and access switches).

When changing the IP range of the default VLAN, you must first ensure that the port connecting the router to the core switch, and the ports connecting the core switch to the other switches, are set to Trunk mode and not Access mode. Otherwise, information from the new VLAN will not pass between them.

Adding a New VLAN

A new VLAN is added through the “Smart Config” tool or “Add VLAN Wizard,” where you specify:

The VLAN name and its identification number.
The IP address range for it (optional — leaving the VLAN without an IP makes it completely isolated so that no devices from other networks can reach it except via a direct cable within the same VLAN. Assigning an IP allows communication through that address).
The switch and port on which the VLAN will be applied.

It is essential to note that adding a new VLAN on the router or core switch does not automatically activate it on the access switch ports. You must manually specify the actual Access Port on each switch where you want to connect an end device to this specific VLAN. Otherwise, the connected device will continue to receive an IP address from the default VLAN 1.

Technical Note: Automatic Synchronization Protocol

When you define a new VLAN on one device in the network (e.g., the router), information about this VLAN automatically propagates to the rest of the connected devices through Trunk ports. This happens thanks to a routing protocol that is automatically added behind the scenes when the VLAN is assigned an IP address. This mechanism means you do not need to manually redefine the same VLAN on every device.

IP Address Management and DHCP Service

By default, the DHCP server is located on the router. This service can be moved or added to other devices (such as the core switch) when there is a need to distribute different IP ranges for each VLAN. Always pay attention to where DHCP is enabled for each VLAN to avoid conflicts between multiple DHCP servers serving the same range.

It is also recommended not to change IP settings during peak hours or while employees are actively using the network, to avoid any unexpected outages.

Voice VLAN

Some economical Ruijie switches (primarily designed for camera systems) do not support the Voice VLAN feature (for more details, you can read about the difference between PoE and non-PoE switches and their uses), while NBS series switches support it regardless of the number following the name.

The fundamental difference: Regular Access ports allow only one VLAN to pass. A Voice VLAN port is the only exception that allows more than one VLAN to pass on the same port simultaneously — which is necessary for IP phones that often need to pass data from the computer connected behind them through the same cable.

Failing to use a switch that properly supports Voice VLAN, or placing all devices (voice and data) on the same VLAN without proper tagging, leads to high packet drop rates that directly affect call quality.

Ruijie Network Compatibility with Devices from Other Companies

Practical experience shows that Ruijie switches are compatible with most global PBX systems, including Cisco Call Manager and others, provided the switch supports Voice VLAN. Firewalls from companies like Fortinet also work well with Ruijie devices according to field experience, even though this is not considered officially certified compatibility by the manufacturer.

As for routers provided by telecom companies (such as GPON devices), it is not recommended to use them as a replacement for a Ruijie router due to weak full compatibility with the switch ecosystem and cloud management.

Common Ruijie Network Troubleshooting

Device appears as “Unknown” in the platform: Usually a temporary synchronization issue. Solve it by going to the device list, refreshing the data (Refresh/Update). If the problem persists, delete the device (Delete) and rediscover it (Detect Device).
Port not working after configuration: Make sure it is set to “Enable” and not “Disable,” and that you are modifying the correct port.
New IP address takes time to appear on the computer: This may take a few minutes due to cloud synchronization time, or it may require renewing the network card (Release/Renew) from the computer itself.
LLDP Protocol: Works automatically all the time (Default Mode) and cannot be manually disabled. It is responsible for automatically discovering connected devices via MAC addresses.

Conclusion

Building professional Ruijie networks rests on three main pillars:

Proper physical planning of cables and devices (Physical Layer),
Precise logical organization of the network through VLANs (Logical Layer),
Optimal use of the cloud or local management platform for performance monitoring and rapid problem-solving.

Adhering to these foundations from the beginning when building Ruijie networks saves significant time later when expanding or adding advanced services such as VoIP telephony or multi-site networks.

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