Good points. We have a stack of rejected radios and other parts sitting in out stockroom. The other day I asked one of our guys to arrange for RMA's. With all the rigmarole, emails. faxes, and paperwork, it took him the better part of a week- definitely not worth the trouble.
Part of the problem, in my opinion, is the continuing "race to the bottom" wrt the price ISP's are willing to pay for modular radios, pigtails, power supplies, etc. Add to this the perception that the greatest rated output power at the lowest price is necessarily the best buy, and you've got all the elements for equipment that may work on the bench, but often won't, once you've hauled it up the tower and installed it. Years ago we saw a lot of this kind of thing in our products- so we bought about $25K worth of Eaton and HP test equipment, started testing 100% of everything after a 48-hour burn including modular radios & pigtails, tested again downrange (with sustained high-bandwidth data), and raised our prices dramatically. Small ISPs (which were our main market) wouldn't pay the higher prices. Most of our customers now are in the video surveillance industry and I'm happy to say field failures are a real rarity for us. I think if you're going to build your own equipment you have to set up a professional and rigorous testing environment. I do believe the manufacturers of modular radios, for the most part, are interested in quality too - but they are being forced to build to a price first. Tom Sharples Qorvus Systems, Inc. http://www.qorvus.com ----- Original Message ----- From: "Joshua Rowe" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "WISPA General List" <wireless@wispa.org> Sent: Friday, March 07, 2008 10:21 PM Subject: Re: [WISPA] R52H WOES >I have also seen problems with the R52H cards and power output as many of > you have noticed. I have also seen signal loss problems with pigtails and > n- > type cables lately which brings me to the point I want to make. > > What has happened to quality control? > > In my humble opinion the manufacturer should test these products before > ever > shipping to the distributor/vendor as they are clearly manufacturer > defects. > I'm sure Pasadena, Wisp-router, etc. would not sell faulty products had > they > known, and it is not up to them to test every card or cable before they > ship, they rely on the manufacturer to provide a quality product. I'm > somewhat familiar with the manufacturing industry and yes, I agree with > those of you who will say it's too costly to test every single item and if > the manufacturer had to absorb that cost it would only be passed on to us > consumers resulting in higher priced gear, and none of us want that and we > should not have pay a few extra bucks per unit to ensure proper operation > so > we're not wasting man hours on testing, climbing a tower or making a truck > roll for a second time due to . It is very dissapointing and costly to > have > to test and sort the radio cards, pigtails, cables, etc before ever being > deployed because the manufacturer does not not to mention the cost in > returning them. > > In most environments, the engineer at the manufacturer determines an > acceptable tolerance range of the components used to create an item that > will perform at the specs. they sell them under, someone is not doing > their > job in quality to ensure that the products shipping out are in these > tolerances. > > I would like to ask our distributors who are on this list to take the time > to discuss these issues with the manufacturers and I'm sure this will > improve, in the meantime buy a meter and order extras!!! > > Josh > > -- > NexGenAccess Inc. <http://www.nexgenaccess.com> > > > ---------- Original Message ----------- > From: Travis Johnson <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > To: WISPA General List <wireless@wispa.org> > Sent: Fri, 07 Mar 2008 17:34:34 -0700 > Subject: Re: [WISPA] R52H WOES > >> Mac, >> >> I have to step in here and say that Frank was NOT so nice and kind >> whenI first reported this issue LAST week. In fact, he basically >> said wedidn't know what we were talking about and asked "how we >> tested them".Now that everyone else is seeing the problem, he has >> come forward andalso sent me a return UPS label. >> >> We are using SR5 cards for the AP's. They have been rock solid on >> manyof our point to point links for several years, so we are going >> to usethose on all of our AP's. >> >> Travis >> Microserv >> >> Mac Dearman wrote:I just finished testing these radios and 50% of >> them were bad. One was DOA and the others were down anywhere from - >> 10db rx to -20db on the Tx side. One was bad on both sides. >> >> What are we going to turn to for replacement? I have 3 new towers dressed >> out needing nothing but RADIOS!!!! I guess the old faithful CM9 will >> work since it runs about half of my network now in 5.xGHz. >> >> I must add that Frank Keeney (Pasadena Networks) has already sent me >> a return shipping label for the bad radios!! www.wlanparts.com is on >> the ball with GREAT customer service!! >> >> THANKS FRANK! And thanks for the great pricing too!! You have earned >> a regular customer here today!! (that's me) >> >> Mac >> >> -----Original Message----- >> From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] >> On Behalf Of Travis Johnson Sent: Friday, March 07, 2008 10:05 AM >> To: WISPA General List Subject: Re: [WISPA] Bumblebee???? R52H WOES >> >> Mac, >> >> The last shipment of R52H cards we got (15 total), 11 of them were bad. >> The TX power was down 20db. >> >> We tested them by setting up an AP with just a 3ft LMR cable attached >> and connecting to it in the office. When we would go into the Signal >> section for the connection, one side would be down 20-25db from the >> other. :( >> >> Travis >> Microserv >> >> Mac Dearman wrote: >> Someone on list a while back posted a device they were using to test >> their >> radios and the signal they were emitting. What was that device name >> and >> price? >> >> Some of these R52H radios seem to be killing me. I am seeing all >> kinds of >> weird issues like deafness or being mute. I have talked to one other >> person >> this morning that has seen multiple failures on these radios (as I >> have) >> even though no one seems to be reporting these problems to my >> supplier since >> they claim they haven't heard of any issues. I am sure my supplier >> will >> gladly replace these radios, but before I ship them back (even though >> I know >> they are defective) I would love to be able to test them. >> >> Thanks folks, >> Mac >> >> --------------------------------------------------------------------- >> ----------- >> WISPA Wants You! Join today! >> http://signup.wispa.org/ >> --------------------------------------------------------------------- >> ----------- >> WISPA Wireless List: wireless@wispa.org >> >> Subscribe/Unsubscribe: >> http://lists.wispa.org/mailman/listinfo/wireless >> >> Archives: http://lists.wispa.org/pipermail/wireless/ >> >> ----------------------------------------------------------------------- >> --------- >> WISPA Wants You! Join today! >> http://signup.wispa.org/ >> ----------------------------------------------------------------------- >> --------- >> >> WISPA Wireless List: wireless@wispa.org >> >> Subscribe/Unsubscribe: >> http://lists.wispa.org/mailman/listinfo/wireless >> >> Archives: http://lists.wispa.org/pipermail/wireless/ >> >> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- > ----- >> WISPA Wants You! Join today! >> http://signup.wispa.org/ >> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- > ----- >> >> WISPA Wireless List: wireless@wispa.org >> >> Subscribe/Unsubscribe: >> http://lists.wispa.org/mailman/listinfo/wireless >> >> Archives: http://lists.wispa.org/pipermail/wireless/ > ------- End of Original Message ------- > > > > -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- > WISPA Wants You! 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