Ouch!! We too have had a APPO (client bridge Backhaul) die. As soon as I get some bench time, I plan on messing with it to see if I can make it "hear" again.
SB should start looking at recent changes that may have been made such as: Firmware (repeater mode) Hardware (indoor units now have different temp ratings) Other (changes to keep outdoor firmware from loading on indoor products?) As a side note, I took the "guts" out of a indoor airpoint and replaced the "guts" from a dead outdoor APP and it's been working great! ----- Original Message ----- From: "Sam" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Tuesday, July 01, 2003 9:25 AM Subject: [smartBridges] Horror Story? Read this (not for the faint of heart) > (Ok, this isn't about a Total, but you'll get the idea.) > > Three weeks ago I replaced my 5.8 ghz backhaul with two APPOs. One at > the water tower (WT) set to Client Bridge mode, and one at the NOC (NOC) > set as an Access Point. > > This worked well for three weeks - as good as or maybe better than the > more-expensive 5.8 YDI radios. Then on Saturday, the one at the NOC > stopped working. I reset it a few times, and that worked. > > My link stayed up for 16 hours. > > Sunday the link went down again. This time the one at the WT was the > culprit. It had a link light, but I could not log into it. I plugged my > laptop directly into it, reset the power shot numerous times, used > different power shots, tried straight through and crossover, searched for > the APPO, entered the ip address manually, all to no avail. So up the > tower I go, 150 feet, (this after just having knee surgery) and replaced > the radio. All came up and worked fine. > > For 18 hours. > > Then the APPO on top of the WT failed again. (This is the second, brand > new APPO unit, in two days.) The link light was out, and woud not come on > no matter how much resetting, powering off/on I would do. > > So I took my last spare (again a brand new APPO, as if that means anything > anymore) back up the WT, 150 feet, bad knees and all, and replaced the one > that worked for 18 hours. The link came back up. > > I'm crossing my fingers, praying to God, knocking on wood, and doing > everything I can to hope this one will stay up until I can get EC to send > me three replacements for these three APPOs I've replaced in three days. > (Side note: I'm glad that ElectroComm has been so good to work with as > they have been, or I'd be back to just being a dialup ISP, being an > embarrasing failure in trying to offer broadband using Smartbridges > infrastructure.) > > To make matters worse, this all happened two days after signing a contract > with the county for $1500.00 for a year for my wireless service. I fully > expect them to call me tomorrow and tell me to stick that contract in my > ass, thanks to these APPO units that were apparently assembled and/or QA'd > by Larry, Moe and Curly, if at all. > > I have an AP on top of the same water tower, an OLD APPO, made back before > it seems that Smartbridges decided to be all things to everyone and add in > every new feature that was mentioned, running from the same UPS and > mounted on the same mast as the one I have changed three times in as many > days. This OLD APPO is having no problem at all. I have another OLD APPO > in a different location that is an AP that hasn't been reset since October > 2002. Again, I refer you to the downhill slide in the QA department. These > old units are working like a champ. The new stuff coming out of Singapore > leaves a lot to be desired. It's not unrealistic to expect to be able to > get more than 24 hours of service out of an APPO before having to replace > it. And again, this wasn't an isolated incident - it was three brand new > units in three days. > > If this last APPO that I put up there fails before December and it's not > due to a lightning strike or rifle shot, I plan to begin the process of > exchanging all of my Smartbridges equipment with Cisco, or whatever > solution will put stability ahead of experimentation. Being new to this, I > don't know if all manufacturers have this same problem or not. Maybe I'm > setting my expectations too high, and the all have problems like this. Has > anyone had any good experiences with Cisco, Alverion, Telex, or any of the > other vendors? I would really like to stay with Smartbridges, but not if > this level of quality (or lack thereof) persists much longer. > > (And this is all in addition to six of 10 Airbridge indoor units I have to > return from this last shipment as well for various reasons...won't > associate, won't come on, power light comes on but nothing else, > ethernet light comes on and goes back off intermittently with a > known good cable, ESSID turning to garbage, ad nauseum....but the > backhaul (APPOs) have been my main focus right now as they are taking my > entire wireless network down when they have their daily failures.) > > Sam Morris, Owner > Loganet Internet Service > Logan IA > > PS: It would be way-cool if the plant in Singapore would send me three > APPO units made from the most-recent batch that hopefully have all of the > problems fixed. Given the embarassment and serious financial impact my > company has suffered and continues to suffer from my loyalty to and the > failure of the units shipped from Smartbridges right after the production > plants cranked back up, this doesn't seem like a lot to ask. I already > know I'm losing the $1500.00 contract with the courthouse. As soon as the > phone company starts up DSL next week I expect to lose several more > customers, and I can't really blame them, given that these APPOs have > forced them back to dialup so frequently. If Smartbridges is willing to do > so, my address is: > > Loganet > 2607 220th St > Logan IA USA > 51546 > > Phone number is 712-644-3578 if you need it. > > If you can send me three that will work for a reasonable period of time > I'll even pay you for them, but as things stand right now, I've more than > paid for the lack of quality of your products in lost and frustrated > customers, severe damage to my company's reputation, and a general feeling > that I have been royally taken in by a company I had counted on. I just > hope mine can survive through all of this. > > The PART-15.ORG smartBridges Discussion List > To Join: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] (in the body type subscribe smartBridges <yournickname> > To Remove: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] (in the body type unsubscribe smartBridges) > Archives: http://archives.part-15.org > The PART-15.ORG smartBridges Discussion List To Join: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] (in the body type subscribe smartBridges <yournickname> To Remove: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] (in the body type unsubscribe smartBridges) Archives: http://archives.part-15.org
