Z3/Z3C Series Hardware Installation Guide

Product Overview

The Cisco Meraki Z-Series teleworker gateway is an enterprise class firewall, VPN gateway and router. Each model offers wireless for connectivity, five gigabit ethernet ports, including a built-in PoE-enabled port for VoIP phones and other powered devices. Each model is designed to securely extend the power of Meraki cloud managed networking to almost any location. With a built-in LTE modem, the Z3C simplifies any deployment that requires a backup cellular uplink, or is positioned in a remote location.

Features

Managed via Cisco Meraki Dashboard
Automatic Firmware upgrades
Automatic WAN Failover to Cellular Uplink
L3/L7 Stateful Firewall
1:1 and 1:Many NAT
Configurable VLANs / DHCP support
Static Routing
Client VPN endpoint
Meraki AutoVPN and L2TP/IPSec VPN endpoint
Custom Traffic Shaping
Historical Client Usage statistics
Netflow support
Syslog integration
Remote Packet Capture tools

Context and Comparisons

	Z3	Z3C
Max Stateful Firewall Throughput in NAT mode	200 Mbps	200 Mbps
Max Stateful Firewall Throughput in Passthrough mode	100 Mbps	100 Mbps
Max VPN Throughput	75 Mbps	75 Mbps
Backup Cellular Uplink	3rd Party USB Modem	Built-in CAT3 LTE Modem
PoE Capabilities	Yes, 1x GbE RJ45 LAN Ports (802.3af)	Yes, 1x GbE RJ45 LAN Ports (802.3af)
Recommended LAN Clients	Up to 5	Up to 5

Physical Specifications

	Z3	Z3C
RJ45 WAN Interfaces	1x Dedicated GbE RJ45	1x Dedicated GbE RJ45
Cellular WAN Interfaces	3rd Party USB Modem	Built-in Cellular Uplink
LAN Interfaces - Dedicated	4x Dedicated GbE RJ45	4x Dedicated GbE RJ45
Wireless Radio Information	802.11a/b/g/n/ac Wave 2 (2.4 or 5Ghz) 2x2 MU-MIMO	802.11a/b/g/n/ac Wave 2 (2.4 or 5Ghz) 2x2 MU-MIMO
Antennas	2 x 2 MU-MIMO with two spatial streams	2 x 2 MU-MIMO with two spatial streams
Maximum Wireless Data Rate	1.3 Gbps	1.3 Gbps
Mount Type	Desktop / Wall Mount	Desktop / Wall Mount
Dimensions (h x d x w)	6.83 x 4.41 x 1.04 in / 173.4 x 112 x 26.3 mm	7.9 x 4.41 x 1.04 in / 200 x 112 x 26 mm
Weight	0.85 lbs / 0.386 kg	1.1 lbs / 0.487 kg
Power Supply	50W (54 V / 0.92 A)	50W (54 V / 0.92 A)
Power Load (max)	25W	26W
Operating Temperature	32°F - 104 °F 0°C - 40°C	32°F - 104 °F 0°C - 40°C
Storage and Transportation Temperature	-4°F - 158°F -20°C - 70°C	-4°F - 158°F -20°C - 70°
Humidity	5% to 95%	5% to 95%

Cellular Interface

Please note that any other worldwide carrier that requires only a GCF certification should be compatible.

	US / North America Bands	Worldwide Bands
HSPA+	2, 4, 5	1, 3, 8
FDD-LTE	2, 4, 5, 13, 17	1, 3, 7, 8, 20
TD-LTE	-	-
GSM Bands	850, 900, 1800, 1900	900, 1800
CA	N/A	N/A
Certifications	PTCRB (US)	RCM (ANZ, APAC), GCF (EU)
Tested Carriers	AT&T, Bell Canada	Orange, Telia, Telecom Italia, Telefonica, Post, BT, STC, Telenor, SingTel

Carrier compatibility is generally based on having compatible bands on the modem. In the open market, carriers may only require regulatory domain certifications and open market certifications, like the PTCRB and GCF, to be compatible for their network. Sometimes carriers will require additional testing before a device can be used on their network. The section Tested Carriers is based on Meraki device certifications being approved by those specific carriers. A carrier being listed above means that they have officially certified the Meraki product for their cellular network. There maybe many unlisted carriers could be functionally compatible with Meraki devices. The list of tested certified carriers is based on the carrier validating Meraki per their network parameter requirements. If a carrier you are looking to use is not listed above, it could be that they do not require additional compliance testing for their network.

Accessories

Accessory	Description
MA-STND-1	1x Desk Stand (Z3/Z3C)
MA-PWR-50WAC	1x 50W Power Adapter (Z3/Z3C)
MA-PWR-CORD-US	1x AC Power Cable, US plug
MA-PWR-CORD-EU	1x AC Power Cable, EU plug
MA-PWR-CORD-UK	1x AC Power Cable, UK plug
MA-PWR-CORD-AU	1x AC Power Cable, AU plug

Product View and Physical Features

Package Contents

In addition to the Z3/Z3C device, the following are provided:

Z3	Z3C
Power Adapter (No Power Cable)	Power Adapter (No Power Cable)
2x CAT5 Ethernet Cables	2x CAT5 Ethernet Cables
Wall Screws and Anchors	Wall Screws and Anchors
	SIM ejector tool

Front Panel

Z3

Z3C

Status Indicator

The Z3C uses a single LED to inform the user of the device's status.

LED Status	Meaning
Solid orange	Power is applied but the appliance is not connected to the Meraki Dashboard
Rainbow Colors	The appliance is attempting to connect to Meraki Dashboard
Flashing White	Firmware upgrade in progress
Solid White	Fully operational/connected, uplink actively using wired WAN
Solid Purple (Z3C only)	Fully operational/connected, uplink actively using cellular failover

Back Panel

Z3

Additional functions on the back panel are described below, from left to right.

USB port	USB 3.0 for 3G/4G wireless cards. Traffic status is indicated by the USB LED.
Reset button	Insert a paper clip if a reset is required. Press for 1 second to delete a downloaded configuration and reboot. Press and hold for more than 10 seconds to force a full factory reset.
WAN / Internet port	[Far left Ethernet port] This port provides connectivity to the WAN.
LAN ports	These 4 ports provide connectivity to computers, printers, access points, or Ethernet switches. A steady green LED indicates bidirectional connectivity, and flashing green indicates traffic.
PoE+ Port	[Far right Ethernet port] One of the LAN port provides PoE+ for connectivity to computers, printers, access points, or Ethernet switches, up to 15W of PoE power. A steady green LED indicates bidirectional connectivity, and flashing green indicates traffic.
Power input	Designed for use only with the unit’s power supply.

Z3C

HOG-BACK cropped.png

Additional functions on the back panel are described below, from left to right.

SIM Card Slot	Active, supported SIM cards can be inserted into this slot to enable cellular capabilities.
Reset button	Insert a paper clip if a reset is required. Press for 1 second to delete a downloaded configuration and reboot. Press and hold for more than 10 seconds to force a full factory reset.
USB port	USB 3.0 for 3G/4G wireless cards. Traffic status is indicated by the USB LED.
WAN / Internet port	This port provides connectivity to the WAN.
LAN ports	These 4 ports provide connectivity to computers, printers, access points, or Ethernet switches. A steady green LED indicates bidirectional connectivity, and flashing green indicates traffic.
PoE+ Port	One of the LAN port provides PoE+ for connectivity to computers, printers, access points, or Ethernet switches, up to 15W of PoE power. A steady green LED indicates bidirectional connectivity, and flashing green indicates traffic.
Power input	Designed for use only with the unit’s power supply.

Bottom Panel

Z3

Please note that the serial number is located on the product label on the bottom panel of the Z3

Z3C

Please note that the serial number is located on the product label on the bottom panel of the Z3C

Mounting Hardware

The supplied wall screws and anchors allow you to mount the gateway on a drywall surface, either vertically or horizontally. The distance between the holes you drill should be 3-15/32 inches (8.8cm) for Z3 and 5-1/8 inches (13 cm) for Z3C.

Safety and Warnings

These operations are to be taken with respect to all local laws. Please take the following into consideration for safe operation:

Power off the unit before you begin. Read the installation instructions before connecting the system to the power source.
Before you work on any equipment, be aware of the hazards involved with electrical circuitry and be familiar with standard practices for preventing accidents.
Read the mounting instructions carefully before beginning installation. Failure to use the correct hardware or to follow the correct procedures could result in a hazardous situation to people and damage to the system.
This product relies on the building’s installation for short-circuit (overcurrent) protection. Ensure that the protective device is rated not greater than: 15 A, 125 Vac, or 10A, 240 Vac.
Please only power the device with the provided power cables to ensure regulatory compliance.

Pre-install Preparation

You should complete the following steps before going on-site to perform an installation.

Configure your Dashboard Network

The following is a brief overview only of the steps required to add an Z3/Z3C to your network. For detailed instructions about creating, configuring and managing Meraki networks, refer to our Managing Dashboard Networks document. Additional resources can also be found via: documentation.meraki.com.

Login to http://dashboard.meraki.com. If this is your ﬁrst time, create a new account.
Find the network to which you plan to add your Z3/Z3C or create a new network.
Add your Z3/Z3C to your network. You will need your Meraki order number (found on your invoice) or the serial number of each Z3/Z3C, which looks like Qxxx-xxxx-xxxx, and is found on the bottom of the unit. You will also need your Enterprise license key, which you should have received via email.
Go to the map / ﬂoor plan view and place each Z3/Z3C on the map by clicking and dragging it to the location where you plan to mount it.

Check and Set Firmware

To ensure your Z3/Z3C performs optimally immediately following installation, it is recommended that you facilitate a ﬁrmware upgrade prior to mounting your Z3/Z3C.

Attach your Z3/Z3C to power and a wired Internet connection.
The Z3/Z3C will turn on and the power LED will glow solid orange.
If the unit requires an upgrade, the power LED will begin blinking white until the upgrade is complete, at which point the LED will turn solid white. You should allow at least a few minutes for the ﬁrmware upgrade to complete, depending on the speed of your internet connection.

Check and Configure Upstream Firewall Settings

If an upstream ﬁrewall is already in place, it must allow outgoing connections on particular ports to particular IP addresses. The most current list of outbound ports and IP addresses for your particular organization can be found on the firewall configuration page in your dashboard.

Installation Instructions

Mounting Hardware

The supplied wall screws and anchors allow you to mount the appliance on a drywall surface, either vertically or horizontally. The distance between the holes you drill should be 5-1/8 inches (13 cm).

For mounting on drywall, use a ¼-in drill bit, then insert the plastic and screw assemblies.
For mounting on wood or a similar surface, use only the screws.
Allow the heads of the screws to stick out far enough to be inserted securely into the back of the appliance.

Connecting to WAN

All Meraki Z3/Z3C devices must have an IP address. This section describes how to configure your local area network before you deploy it. A local management web service, running on the appliance, is accessed through a browser running on a client PC. This web service is used for configuring and monitoring basic ISP/WAN connectivity.

Setting up a Static IP Address

To ensure that the client PC is redirected to the local web service in the following step, you must disable all other network services (ex: wi-fi) on your client machine.

Do the following to configure basic connectivity and other networking parameters:

Using a client machine such as a laptop, connect to one of the LAN ports of the Z3/Z3C.
Using a browser on the client machine, access the appliance's built-in web service by browsing to http://setup.meraki.com. (You do not have to be connected to the Internet to reach this address)
Click Uplink configuration under the Local status tab. The default credentials use the device serial number as the username, with a blank password field.
Choose Static for the IP Assignment option.
Enter the IP address, subnet mask, default gateway IP and DNS server information.

Setting up a DHCP IP Address

By default all Z3/Z3C devices are configured to DHCP from upstream WAN / ISP servers. Simply plug the Z3/Z3C's WAN / Internet port to your upstream circuit and wait a few minutes for the unit to negotiate a DHCP address.

When the WAN connection is fully enabled, Internet LED 1 will turn green.

Setting up Cellular Failover

The Z3C has an embedded LTE module for cellular failover connections. The following section will walk through first-time set-up of an Z3C with an internet connection as a primary connection and cellular as failover.

Note that the IMEI cannot yet be found on the Meraki dashboard, only on the physical label of the device. The IMEI of the Z3Cs with embedded LTE, as well as the serial number and MAC address, can be found on the product label at the bottom of cellular-embedded Z3C devices.

To set up the cellular failover connection, follow the steps below:

Power off the Z3C. Swapping/installing SIM cards while the Z3C is powered on may cause unexpected behavior or error.
Open the SIM tray using the SIM card removal tool included in the box
Insert a nano SIM card (4FF size) and close the SIM tray
Connect the uplink for the Z3C device via a wired connection to connect to the Meraki cloud
Power on the Z3C and wait for the Z3C to show as online in the Meraki dashboard
Check with the carrier of choice if an APN needs to be configured. If so, do that from the Meraki Dashboard under Security & SD-WAN > Monitor > Appliance Status > Uplink tab
Navigate to Security & SD-WAN > Monitor > Appliance Status > Uplink tab and next to Status, select the edit (pencil) button and then select Enabled. When the cellular uplink is successfully connected, you will be able to see the status on the left hand side of the Appliance Status page and in the Uplink tab. The connection will say Ready when it is successfully connected
Test the cellular failover connection by unplugging the wired connection or by using the traceroute tool under Security & SD-WAN > Monitor > Appliance Status in the Tools tab
If, after following the steps above, the SIM card is not detected, please confirm with your carrier that the SIM card is active and has data. You will need the ICCID of the SIM card and IMEI of the device to get troubleshooting help from the carrier
- A list of certified carriers can be found in our Z3/Z3C Overview and Specifications document
Please contact the Meraki Support team if the cellular connection is still not being recognized after following the steps above

Additional Settings

Please note that all these settings below are accessible only via the local management console.

Setting VLANs

If your WAN uplink is on a trunk port, choose VLAN tagging > Use VLAN tagging and enter the appropriate value for VLAN ID for your network.

Setting PPPoE

PPPoE authentication may be required if you are connecting Z3/Z3C device to a DSL circuit. You need to know your authentication option and credentials (supplied by your ISP) in order to complete these steps.

Choose Connection Type > PPPoE.
Select your Authentication option.
If you select Use authentication, enter appropriate values for Username and Password.

Web Proxy Settings

These settings take effect if the Z3/Z3C device has to fall back to using HTTP to contact the Cloud Controller. By default, web proxy is disabled. To enable web proxy, do the following:

Choose Web proxy > Yes.
Enter values as appropriate for Hostname or IP and Port.
If you require authentication, choose Authentication > Use authentication, and enter appropriate values for Username and Password.

To apply all configuration settings to the appliance, be sure to click Save Settings at the bottom of the page.

Configuring Physical Link Settings

To configure physical link settings on the Ethernet ports, click Local status > Ethernet configuration. You can enable half duplex, full duplex, and autonegotiation, as well as set 10- or 100-Mbps data rates.

Basic Troubleshooting

The following steps can be used for troubleshooting basic connectivity issues with your Z3/Z3C.

Reset the Z3/Z3C
Factory reset the Z3/Z3C by holding the factory reset button for 5 seconds
Try switching cables, or testing your cable on another device

Reference https://documentation.meraki.com/ for additional information and troubleshooting tips.

If you are still experiencing hardware issues, please contact Cisco Meraki support by logging in to dashboard and using the Help option near the top of the page, then opening and email case or calling using the contact information on that page.

Warranty

Z-series Warranty coverage periods are as follows:

Product	Warranty Period	Warranty Information
Z-series (e.g. Z3, Z3C)	Lifetime
Z-series Accessories	1 Year	The following are considered accessories: SFP Modules, all mounting kits and stands, interface modules, additional power cords

Product

Warranty Period

Warranty Information

Z-series (e.g. Z3, Z3C)

Lifetime

Z-series Accessories

1 Year

The following are considered accessories:

SFP Modules, all mounting kits and stands, interface modules, additional power cords

Additional warranty information can be found on the Return Policy and Requesting a RMA page of the Cisco Meraki website.

If your Cisco Meraki device fails and the problem cannot be resolved by troubleshooting, contact support to address the issue. Once support determines that the device is in a failed state, they can process an RMA and send out a replacement device free of charge. In most circumstances, the RMA will include a pre-paid shipping label so the faulty equipment can be returned.

In order to initiate a hardware replacement for non-functioning hardware that is under warranty, you must have access to the original packaging the hardware was shipped in. The original hardware packaging includes device serial number and order information, and may be required for return shipping.

Meraki Z3/Z3C devices have been tested and found to comply with the limits for a Class B digital device, pursuant to part 15 of the FCC rules. These limits are designed to provide reasonable protection against harmful interference in a residential installation. This equipment generates, uses and can radiate radio frequency energy and, if not installed and used in accordance with the instructions, may cause harmful interference to radio communications. However, there is no guarantee that interference will not occur in a particular installation.

Support and Additional Information

If issues are encountered with device installation or additional help is required, contact Meraki Support by logging in to dashboard.meraki.com and opening a case by visiting the Get Help section.

The equipment is intended for industrial or other commercial activities.
The equipment is used in areas without exposure to harmful and dangerous production factors, unless otherwise specified in the operational documentation and/or on the equipment labeling.
The equipment is not for domestic use. The equipment is intended for operation without the constant presence of maintenance personnel.
The equipment is subject to installation and maintenance by specialists with the appropriate qualifications, sufficient specialized knowledge, and skills.
Rules and conditions for the sale of equipment are determined by the terms of contracts concluded by Cisco or authorized Cisco partners with equipment buyers.
Disposal of a technical device at the end of its service life should be carried out in accordance with the requirements of all state regulations and laws.
Do not throw in the device with household waste. The technical equipment is subject to storage and disposal in accordance with the organization's disposal procedure.
The equipment should be stored in its original packaging in a room protected from atmospheric precipitation. The permissible temperature and humidity ranges during storage are specified in the Operation (Installation) Manual.
Transportation of equipment should be carried out in the original packaging in covered vehicles by any means of transport. The temperature and humidity during transportation must comply with the permissible established ranges of temperature and humidity during storage (in the off state) specified in the Operation Manual (Installation).

For additional information on Meraki hardware and for other installation guides, please refer to documentation.meraki.com.