We have had an AirBridge Outdoor on a building rooftop now for about 4 months. It serves 2 businesses out of that building one of which has about 8 Terminal Service clients that connect from California. We've been very pleased with the reliability and price points of the SmartBridges equipment, and we look forward to other business clients from that building signing up. Now I wont say that we wont be making sure we have some kind of backup connection in place for them, but that's just covering your ass.
The cardinal rules of being a WISP, "Every install is different." "Every environment is different." "Find what works best in that particular situation and use it." Kevin Summers KISTech Internet Services Inc. www.kistech.com -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Behalf Of Scott Damron Sent: Monday, July 21, 2003 9:47 AM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: RE: [smartBridges] Thanks for your support and the patience I know this has been said already, but according to Smart Bridge, their equipment is "Carrier Grade" That is a rather heafty claim, as they don't work worth a shit for residential even. Most folks I know who are WIPS's will purchase a couple of pieces of equipment and test them. I would not put an Airbridge of anykind on a business customer!!!!! Scott -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Ray Sent: Sunday, July 20, 2003 9:26 AM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: [smartBridges] Thanks for your support and the patience Brian, I'll buy your airbridges at a substantial discount since they don't work. Regarding the business clients you lost, that sucks big time! But, you really should have looked at using different equipment to keep them on. If you are charging them $300 per month for a connection they should get something more than your residential customers (i.e. more reliable equipment). Most businesses we deal with can and will pay a premium for higher quality service, we would provide them with Trango gear, although this is more due to the spectrum than anything. At some point *WE* must take responsibility for loosing customers. You know, "shaft me once, shame on you, shaft me twice, shame on me." Ray ----- Original Message ----- From: Brian Winters To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Sunday, July 20, 2003 9:13 AM Subject: RE: [smartBridges] Thanks for your support and the patience July 20, 2003 I can appreciate the fact that SmartBridges is frustrated. I can also appreciate the fact that they are working hard to resolve the problem and that it blindsided them or what have you. However, this is a serious problem that I personally have been dealing with for well over a month. (Check the very first post on the subject when Mike and I posted the problems about the indoor bridges) The fact of the matter is, whether its their fault or not, this "situation" has seriously impacted our business and lost us thousands of dollars. Today I am prepping for a climb that will be the 4th such climb on this tower to replace yet another defective Airpoint Pro. My tower climber charges me an EXCELLENT rate of $1 per foot but this unit is at the top of a 250ft tower so you do the math. Aside from that we have now lost 2 very important business customers whose monthly billing was about $600 between the two of them. Add up $600/mo and multiply by 36 months and see what that number is. More importantly however, we have lost credibility with our customers because we have been unable to fix the problem. Our service is seen as un-reliable and our reputation has been very negatively affected. And all of this through no fault of our own. To make matters worse, we now have 25 bridges in stock that we are afraid to deploy because we can't even get a MAC address list of the affected products. I can understand how this situation sucks for all involved, but the fact of the matter is, when we purchase a product from a manufacturer and it doesn't work, it doesn't matter whose fault it is. The sticker on the side of my radios says SmartBridges and therefore it's their problem. I can't believe how everyone is saying that is great they are trying so hard to fix the problem, Its not great, it's a problem that never should have happened in the first place. The way I see it, defective chip or not, there should be a level of QC in place that doesn't allow 4,000 bad units out the door.Period. Aside from that, this new "fix" seems more like a crapshoot than a solution and given my luck, I probably won't get a single unit to work with the new firmware. I have been one of the main supporters of SmartBridges products (my picture is even on the front page of their website) but this leaves a bad taste in my mouth. If you take the money I have spent fixing this problem and add to it the lost business and reputation issues, I could have deployed Alvarion and actually saved money. (How many units could I lease for $600/mo that I lost with my two business customers?) Plus, I would be sitting at home with my family right now instead of posting in utter frustration on a support forum at Noon on a Sunday. My phone rings every 25 minutes and I haven't slept in weeks, so I don't really care whose fault it is or how hard they are working on a solution, this situation is going to be very hard to recover from. -Brian P.S. I have 25 airbridges for sale if anybody wants them. Best regards, Brian W Winters President/CEO (502) 863-1709 Tel (502) 863-1841 Fax www.mybfe.com Broadband For Everyone 138 East Main St Georgetown, KY 40324 Email that means business, Every email, Every day - LetterClick BrandMail T -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Nish Park Sent: Sunday, July 20, 2003 3:43 AM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: [smartBridges] Thanks for your support and the patience Thanks guys for the support and the kind words. I will pass it on to the team. I am sure they will appreciate it. Yes it is kind of frustrating. Right now all the energy (yours and ours) is all going on non-value-add stuff. And that too it happened right in the midst of some good QA improvement tools we had put in place. It is all overshadowed for the moment. I guess we will have to first plough through this mess before the other improvement stuff becomes more visible to you. We were kind of broadsided with this issue. We keep asking ourselves if somehow we could have prevented it. And we can not think of a way. It's kind of one of those things where all the "correct" things have come together in a certain way to have an "incorrect" product. Fortunately it is a well contained problem affecting small numbers. The issue has been identified. Solution has already been put in place in the factory. So from that perspective this is a closed issue. Now the challenge is to work with all of you to figure out the least painful solution for the products out in the field. We believe the Firmware upgrade will provide that solution. I think we are very close. The root issue of "lost association after some time" is CONFIRMED to be solved with the new Firmware. Currently it seems to be working for 60% to 70% of the users. So it releases a lot of pressure with this issue. Some users are reporting their devices are not able to associate at all after the firmware upgrade. We are investigating the issue and trying to replicate. It looks like some minor thing that we must be overlooking. So hopefully soon we will have that nailed down also. Again thanks for your support and the patience to put up with all these difficulties. We look forward to re-engage with all of you in high gears. Nish -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Ray Sent: Sunday, July 20, 2003 12:12 PM To: '[EMAIL PROTECTED]' Subject: Re: [smartBridges] New Firmware not working for me I too am very impressed with all the staff at SB! They are dedicated, honest, hardworking, and I trust them. I can only imagine that they are as frustrated as us with these issues. Ray ----- Original Message ----- From: The Wirefree Network To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Saturday, July 19, 2003 8:19 PM Subject: RE: [smartBridges] New Firmware not working for me Ya..Chris.I agree. However, I have been a beta tester for them since Dec 02.not just a regular client. I have been providing very detailed reports and I am used to receiving some word?? That's what has me worried at the moment. I can see it now.a bunch of over-worked technicians banging their heads on their desks. I have not mass-deployed..dont want to either. I only have 3 bad units and all of them are up at the moment (knock on wood). I wonder if doing a manual upgrade, downgrade, upgrade, and downgrade knocked some sense into the unit. Cause it's been working fine ever since yesterday. Not the first time that it has worked for 24 hours though. I am holding my breath. I really don't want to lose these 3 clients. And I am not ever going to jump on the "lawsuit" bandwagon either. I am EXTREMELY impressed with the sB team..from Dilish, to Naveen, to Nish, to Alex, to Seeni, etc.etc... I believe they must have some serious "insider" ownership going on. Cause they are some DAMN hard workers. Sully P.S. I am having a problem with logging into some units at the moment though??? Has me stumped. I will address that in another post. -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of phantam Sent: Saturday, July 19, 2003 7:05 PM To: '[EMAIL PROTECTED]' Subject: RE: [smartBridges] New Firmware not working for me Sully there working on checking the problem I believe I saw, remember it's a beta so it is going to be bug ridden hence why they said not to mass deploy it. I take it they had a feeling problems like this were going to arise that's probably why it was released as a beta with all the warnings because it was a rush beta to get the kinks out in the field because really in design testing can only show 1/100th of the possible problems that can occur in software especially firmware for hardware. Chris -----Original Message----- From: The Wirefree Network [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Saturday, July 19, 2003 10:57 PM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED]; [EMAIL PROTECTED] I see you are responding to some posts...and I have never known sB to NOT monitor this forum 24x7. So...where is your response to our problems with this firmware?? Please....we have been patient on this issue...but at least let us know that you acknowledge the problem we are having and are working hard (as usual) to fix it. Loyal sB user! Sully -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of The Wirefree Network Sent: Saturday, July 19, 2003 12:35 PM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED]; [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: RE: [smartBridges] New Firmware not working for me Repost due to ZERO response from sB on this issue. Why is this firmware not allowing association to some aPPo's??? Sully -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of The Wirefree Network Sent: Friday, July 18, 2003 5:15 PM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: [smartBridges] New Firmware not working for me Importance: High Here in my lab, I have a suspected bad unit. I upgraded the firmware, and it will NOT reassociate with the intended aPPo. I switched the SSID/Freq to my other aPPo and it associated right up. I did this about 5 times both ways. Every time it was the same. I downgraded the firmware back to (0.01.04) and it associated right up with the intended aPPo. Upgraded again and it lost association. I have confirmed that there are ABSOLUTELY no differences in the settings of my two aPPos except for this: - Different SSIDs - Different freq's - One is new aPPo with short pigtail, one is older aPPo with hardwired CAT5 The unit that I can not associate to is the older unit. None of the older sB equipment is having any problems. Everything is on the older firmware as well: aPPo = 1.4j.5 airBridge indoors = 0.01.04 (tried upgrading to 0.01.06) Of the 17 I installed in the last 2 weeks, three are experiencing the "lost association" problem. I replaced all 3 units (including POE units) and all 3 are still having problems. That is VERY odd. Although I did receive all these units (30) at the same time (almost all consecutive MAC addresses). Still doesn't explain why only these 3 are having problems and none of the other 14. I wouldn't think it was too odd if it weren't for the fact that I R&R'd all 3 units and they are still losing association, whereas all the other 14 new clients are humming right along. I really think there is something more to this. No...it is not frequency or multipath or whatever. I have sniffed out the entire area. They are clean and very good RSSI/LQ. All 17 of these installs are within a half mile of the aPPo and clear LOS. Sully -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of The Wirefree Network Sent: Friday, July 18, 2003 4:09 PM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: RE: [smartBridges] Anyone having issues with the new firmware? name of the device is just airbridge. I dont have any more client info entered in any of my devices. Sully -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Behalf Of The Wirefree Network Sent: Friday, July 18, 2003 4:51 PM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: RE: [smartBridges] Anyone having issues with the new firmware? 1. Older aPPo (about 3 months old..older type unit with hardwired CAT5) running 1.4j.5 firmware. 2. Client airBridge indoor units are running older firmware as well 0.01.04. 3. SSID is only 3 characters long 4. Preupgrade RSSI and LQ was in the 90's for both (when associated of course). I am wondering if I need the newer firmware on all devices first of all, then load the BETA firmware on the suspect devices???? I had held off on the last round of firmware upgrades due to others experiencing problems. I am about to try another upgrade here in my lab with one bad unit. Will keep you posted! Sully -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Behalf Of Tom Haynes Sent: Friday, July 18, 2003 4:37 PM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: RE: [smartBridges] Anyone having issues with the new firmware? Mike and Sully. What FW are you running on the AP that the upgraded units will not associate with? What was your pre-upgrade RSSI and LQ? What is the length of the ESSID on the AP that the units will not associate with? Mike, are there anyother differences between the APs that the upgraded units will assoiate with and the APs they will not associate with? -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of The Wirefree Network Sent: Friday, July 18, 2003 6:31 PM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: RE: [smartBridges] Anyone having issues with the new firmware? I tried to upgrade one of 3 freezing units and it would not associate with the AP. This is the only AP within range of all 3 units, so I dont know what to do at this point. I had to downgrade back to old firmware to reassociate. Sully -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Behalf Of Michael Saathoff Sent: Friday, July 18, 2003 12:29 PM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: RE: [smartBridges] Anyone having issues with the new firmware? Update, I have 7 AP's running the same firmware. For some reason upgrading the firmware on the AirBriges kills their ability to associate with two of seven AP's. I can associate with any of the other five and all seems to be working well. Not sure why yet. --Mike -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Behalf Of Michael Saathoff Sent: Friday, July 18, 2003 12:20 PM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: RE: [smartBridges] Anyone having issues with the new firmware? Sam, It either works or it dosen't.....Sounds funny but, what I mean is that the upgrade seems to resolve the heat issue. Though I haven't had any real heat the last couple days. The bad side is that it seems to kill my ability to associate with some of my AP's. --Mike -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Behalf Of Sam Sent: Friday, July 18, 2003 12:09 PM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: [smartBridges] Anyone having issues with the new firmware? Has anyone installed the new firmware? I'm getting ready to try, but wanted to check first to see what sort of luck others have had. Thanks Sam 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 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 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 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 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 --- Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free. Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). Version: 6.0.500 / Virus Database: 298 - Release Date: 7/11/2003 --- Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free. Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). Version: 6.0.502 / Virus Database: 300 - Release Date: 7/18/2003 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
