Sonic'

Any managed wireless experts in,

Got a problem at the moment

Did an install this week of a 3com WX4400 Managed Wireless controller, along with 6 3com 2426 PWR PoE switches, all connected to a 3com 5500 via fibre

And also fitted 48 3com 2750 Access Points

I seem to have a problem with approx 20 of the Access Points, when first powered on, recieve roughly 3.3 watts of power via each port, which is acceptable as the maximum the devices need is 6watts, and the minimum is 2watts

However these 20 AP's after about 10 minutes the power drops to 1.3 watts and they are left with a power light and the 11b/g light on permanently

Which isnt enough to keep them power up, and consequently they drop off the network

The Access points have been swapped with known working ones, and they still go off, the switches have been changed and they still go off, and cabling has been changed and they still go off

These arent located to one specific area, and are spread throughout the entire site, also this happens on one AP that is on a 3com PoE injector and not on a switch

I can't work it out, no one has a clue what the problem can be, trying to deal with 3com is a bit of a nightmare, and we are a gold partner with them too !!

I cant see 20 AP's being faulty, nor can I see 6 2426 switches being faulty, and the WX4400 I dont think is necessarily the issue here, although I do have another one I can swap it out with

Any help at all?

Sonic'

Guess no-one does managed wireless installs then

3com have decided ONE of the 2426 PWR switches is faulty, so they are sending out a replacement

RoadrunnerV2

Are the switches getting clean power?

ChrisB

I do managed WLAN installs but we use Siemens kit. Not had any problems with their APs running on Allied Telesyn POE switches.

Good question from RoadRunnerV2...

RoadrunnerV2

Chris, have you ever considered Edge core switches. Edge manufacture ProCurve We have just started selling them and they offer unmatched performance/features for the price.

24-Port Fast Eth Full PoE Managed Switch at just £464.67!
Broadbandbuyer.co.uk | Edge-Core ES3526VA-PoE L2 24 Port Fast Ethernet stackable PoE Switch

Sonic'

3com much much cheaper but I guess that is reflected in the quality LOL

Im not 100% certain about the clean power, as we don't have a POE tester, only a standard data tester, and they all test ok

In the 30 or 40 minimum installs that we have done of 3com managed wireless, this is the first time we have encountered a problem like this one

ChrisB

What about power to the POE switches? UPS protected / filtered?

Could try a pure POE midspan (eg a PowerDsine 35xx) to provide POE (rather than the switches) and see if that helps?

Sonic'

That is on my todo list to try a ups on the switch

Spoke to 3com today, I wish they would learn english

They told me the warranty had run out, so i argued saying we only purchased all the kit in February, and that we are a gold partner, in the end I had to email them our proof of purchase because they sent us stock they have had on the shelf since October 2006, but never had the warranties on hold till a sale came up


They sent a new POE switch out, and this didnt make any difference, did exactly the same thing on the same ports, power drops to 1.3watts

Ive been trying to get my boss to buy a Psiber Lanmaster 35 POE tester, but he won't and they only cost 240 quid too !!

This is a 40k install that the customer can't/won't pay until it is all working, understandibly so too

Anyway it turns out 3com have another firmware that adds additional VOIP features (the units already support VOIP anyway) that was released on the same day, and both firmwares are classed as initial release !!

Before 3com will take this any further, they want full and complete network diagrams, and screen shots of every single configuration page of every single switch in the network

So I have managed to amend the firmware of the replacement switch, and got a guy taking it out there tomorrow to test again

If that doesn't work, I will get him to try a small UPS on one of the switches, failing that he will be doing a lot of <alt> prntscrn

Chris, 3 of the Access Points are on 3com PoE injectors, and one of those does the same as the switches (although I cant measure the power, but the symptoms are identical) and it doesnt matter which injector I put on that AP it still does the same thing

Steve

Sonic'

Another update

The firmware update only made the Access Points stay on for about 20 minutes before dropping power, as opposed to the 10-15 minutes on the previous firmware

UPS didn't make any difference either

Back to 3com and the drawing board again

ChrisB

It all sounds very bizarre this.

Any difference in hardware revision on the APs? Subtle difference in power requirements?

Could you try a mains PSU to feed a couple of APs for a day or so?

<Goes to find more straws to grasp at>

Sonic'

LOL cheers Chris

It is very bizarre, there is no common denominator, at least none that can be found

The AP's are virtually all sequential serial numbers, so from the same batch, and they all get the same firmware downloaded to them every time they are powered on

We don't have any mains PSUs but it may be worth getting one or two in to try those

I went back out today with an older 2226 PWR switch, to try that, as all the others are 2426 switches, and that did exactly the same thing, it is after 10 minutes pretty much to the second that they drop off

Sonic'

And 3com have now told me today, that ALL of the Access Points we have are part of a faulty batch, and need to be replaced

Looks like an entire production run or two is affected

Anyone else who uses them that start with serial numbers l9dq7t or l9dq7u then they are faulty

Nice of 3com to issue a bulletin stating the fault