Large Wireless Rural Network Config Error Help

[northlewbroadbb]

Hi Guys.

First of all, this is my first post so please forgive me if I have posted in the wrong place and would like to say hi at the same time

My problem might not be easily fixed as what I have is slightly different to most networks as I built and operate a large rural wireless broadband project and use specialist kit from Israel and Singapore but in essence a network is a network so hoping some people can shed some light on the the issues I have. Sorry if this is a bit long also..

As a quick guide, the network has around 200 customers, is made up by various nodes running in the 2.4 and 5.8 ghz range and is meshed. There are 7 omni nodes by a company called Go Network (now radwin), 2 panel 180 degree 1 node and 1 gateway (Gonet), 1 radwin bridge, 1 billing and bandwidth server (4ipnet whg303) and 2 leased line pipes connected to cisco managed BT routers. Each home has a 2.4 ghz antenna pointing at a node or gateway running 2.4 ghz. (Poe) 4ipnet A510))

1st problem is that a number of these antennas go into what we call scanning mode where they loose the signal, even though after a site survey they can see it, they won't hold onto that connection until you manually put them back on by usually a reboot of the antenna then they are fine for a couple of weeks then you have to go round and reboot again. Doesn't seem to be any collisions or signal problems or interference that I can see.. It's also not weather dependant so a bit lost as to the cause. Ping and packets seem to be fine also.

The other problem is some of the nodes reboot themselves every now and again only for a minute or so, but enough for customers to get page cannot be displayed every now and again. I cannot see anything in the config that looks wrong and the power seems ok to it also, no trips or outages but usually notice a high amount of traffic prior the dot11 radio air occupancy increases to around 80% from an average of around 30% suggesting congestion on the 2.4ghz although on the mesh link (5.8ghz) there is no such increase...

The company we purchased them from last year offered very little in the way of help but just had an order to do another 7 of these networks in the UK and obviously will be looking for another supplier but it cost nearly £50k to put together so this niggly problem really hacks me off. The suppliers response was... 'no idea'

Below is one of the config files perhaps is someone could take a look over that and see if any errors jump out at them would be thankful.

Many thanks in advance

Chris


#!CONF FILE
#!SW-VERSION(2.6.7.4)

#--------------------------------------------------------------------
# Don't erase the markers above! They are used to identify the file.
#--------------------------------------------------------------------

#
# Configuration
# Generated at Tue Oct 13 19:09:48 2009
#

#
#FastEthernet Parameters
#
/configure ip vlan 0 192.168.0.15 255.255.255.0
/configure ip mtu 1500
#
#SSH/Telnet parameters
#
/configure ip telnet
/configure ip telnet authentication-retries 3
/configure ip ssh
#
#Local Users Parameters
#
/configure username __stub_super__ encrypted-password 2a996fd6e8e0e1fc124fa8f601b978a6 privilege super
/configure username admin modify encrypted-password 456b7016a916a4b178dd72b947c152b7
/configure username super modify encrypted-password 825306bd68f26cbe3325d824c3b20cc1
/configure username viewer modify encrypted-password caf9b7d9f300d3dfcf746b1c0bb564d7
/configure username __stub_super__ delete
#
#LOG MODULES CONFIGURATION
#
/configure logging-modules module ACL disable
/configure logging-modules module ACL level error
/configure logging-modules module GCLSF disable
/configure logging-modules module GCLSF level error
/configure logging-modules module GDAC disable
/configure logging-modules module GDAC level error
/configure logging-modules module arca disable
/configure logging-modules module arca level error
/configure logging-modules module ath_hal disable
/configure logging-modules module ath_hal level error
/configure logging-modules module ath_pci disable
/configure logging-modules module ath_pci level error
/configure logging-modules module wds_agent disable
/configure logging-modules module wds_agent level error
/configure logging-modules module wlan disable
/configure logging-modules module wlan level error
/configure logging-modules module wlan_wep disable
/configure logging-modules module wlan_wep level error
/configure logging-modules module commd disable
/configure logging-modules module commd level error
/configure logging-modules module mngmnt disable
/configure logging-modules module mngmnt level error
/configure logging-modules module statistics disable
/configure logging-modules module statistics level error
/configure logging-modules module system disable
/configure logging-modules module system level error
/configure logging-modules module wl-mesh disable
/configure logging-modules module wl-mesh level error
/configure logging-modules module wl-privacy disable
/configure logging-modules module wl-privacy level error
/configure logging-modules module wl-radio disable
/configure logging-modules module wl-radio level error
/configure logging-modules module wl-traffic-control disable
/configure logging-modules module wl-traffic-control level error
#
#SYSLOG CONFIGURATION
#
#
#LOG DESTINATIONS CONFIGURATION
#
/configure logging dest cli level emergency
/configure logging dest cli disable
/configure logging dest rs232console level emergency
/configure logging dest rs232console disable
/configure logging dest history level emergency
/configure logging dest history disable
#
#Trap notification filter
#
/configure trap-notify-filter category boot enable
/configure trap-notify-filter category interfaces enable
/configure trap-notify-filter category system enable
/configure trap-notify-filter category operation enable
/configure trap-notify-filter category configuration enable
/configure trap-notify-filter category cli enable
/configure trap-notify-filter category aaa enable
/configure trap-notify-filter category sm enable
/configure trap-notify-filter category wifi enable
/configure trap-notify-filter category sta disable
/configure trap-notify-filter category mesh enable
#
#mesh SCALARS CONFIGURATION
#
/configure mesh timeout 360
/configure mesh mode node
/configure mesh advertise enable
/configure mesh network-id "wds-public"
/configure mesh connectivity_test target_host none
/configure mesh connectivity_test disable
#
#mesh interface Dot11Radio CONFIGURATION
#
/configure mesh interface Dot11Radio 0 disable
/configure mesh interface Dot11Radio 1 enable
#
#mesh privacy CONFIGURATION
#
/configure mesh privacy none
#
#mesh Filter List CONFIGURATION
#
/configure mesh filter-list type permit
/configure mesh filter-list disable
#
#mesh Static List CONFIGURATION
#
/configure auto-sensitivity-algorithm omni
#
#SSID CONFIGURATION
#
/configure ssid 1 name "Northlew" vlan 0 privacy-method none type bssid ssid-profile "system-default-profile" user-profile "system-default-profile"

#
#DOT11 CONFIGURATION
#

#DOT11 0 CONFIGURATION
/configure interface dot11Radio 0 disable
/configure interface dot11Radio 0 mode mixed
/configure interface dot11Radio 0 beacon-period 250
/configure interface dot11Radio 0 channel 1
/configure interface dot11Radio 0 dtim-period 3
/configure interface dot11Radio 0 wme-enable false
/configure interface dot11Radio 0 service access
/configure interface dot11Radio 0 fixed-rate auto
/configure interface dot11Radio 0 max-rate auto
/configure interface dot11Radio 0 distance 300
/configure interface dot11Radio 0 antenna-diversity disable
/configure interface dot11Radio 0 primary-antenna b2
/configure interface dot11Radio 0 dynamic-rx-antenna disable
/configure interface dot11Radio 0 radar-detection disable
/configure interface dot11Radio 0 txPwrAttn 0
/configure interface dot11Radio 0 beacon-rate 1
/configure interface dot11Radio 0 rts-threshold 2347
/configure interface dot11Radio 0 range-optimization none
/configure interface dot11Radio 0 sensitivity -96
/configure interface dot11Radio 0 mrr data 6,3,3,3
/configure interface dot11Radio 0 mrr voice 1,1,1,1
/configure interface dot11Radio 0 mrr probe 1,5,6,3
/configure interface dot11Radio 0 mrr tpm-data 10,5,0,0
/configure interface dot11Radio 0 mrr tpm-voice 1,3,0,0

#DOT11 1 CONFIGURATION
/configure interface dot11Radio 1 disable
/configure interface dot11Radio 1 profile 3
/configure interface dot11Radio 1 mode a
/configure interface dot11Radio 1 beacon-period 200
/configure interface dot11Radio 1 channel auto
/configure interface dot11Radio 1 dtim-period 4
/configure interface dot11Radio 1 wme-enable false
/configure interface dot11Radio 1 service backhaul
/configure interface dot11Radio 1 fixed-rate auto
/configure interface dot11Radio 1 max-rate auto
/configure interface dot11Radio 1 distance 1200
/configure interface dot11Radio 1 antenna-diversity disable
/configure interface dot11Radio 1 primary-antenna b2
/configure interface dot11Radio 1 dynamic-rx-antenna disable
/configure interface dot11Radio 1 radar-detection disable
/configure interface dot11Radio 1 txPwrAttn 15
/configure interface dot11Radio 1 beacon-rate 1
/configure interface dot11Radio 1 rts-threshold 2347
/configure interface dot11Radio 1 range-optimization none
/configure interface dot11Radio 1 sensitivity-bias -89 bias 0
/configure interface dot11Radio 1 mrr data 6,3,3,3
/configure interface dot11Radio 1 mrr voice 1,1,1,1
/configure interface dot11Radio 1 mrr probe 1,5,6,3
/configure interface dot11Radio 1 mrr tpm-data 10,5,0,0
/configure interface dot11Radio 1 mrr tpm-voice 1,3,0,0
#
#dot11BG CONFIGURATION
#

#DOT11 0 CONFIGURATION
/configure interface dot11Radio 0 erp-mode disable
/configure interface dot11Radio 0 preamble-mode auto

#
#dot11XRF CONFIGURATION
#

#
#INTERFACE SSID CONFIGURATION
#
/configure interface Dot11Radio 0 ssid add 1

#
#DOT11 STATUS CONFIGURATION
#
/configure interface dot11Radio 0 enable
/configure interface dot11Radio 1 enable
/configure interface dot11Radio 1 profile 3
#
#STA FIXED RATE CONFIGURATION
#
#
#CLIENT TX PWR CONFIGURATION
#
/configure spectrum-management client-txpwr add 00:13:92:00:00:00 FF:FF:FF:00:00:00 14 Ruckus
/configure spectrum-management client-txpwr add 00:11:6E:00:00:00 FF:FF:FF:00:00:00 14 PepLink
/configure spectrum-management client-txpwr add 00:15:6D:00:00:00 FF:FF:FF:00:00:00 14 Ubiquiti
/configure spectrum-management client-txpwr add 00:1AD:00:00:00 FF:FF:FF:00:00:00 14 PepLink2
/configure spectrum-management client-txpwr default-client-pwr 14
#
#dot11 CHANNEL LIST CONFIGURATION
#

#
# Calibration parameters
#


#
# SSH/Telnet parameters
#
/configure ip ssh crypto key public-key remove-all

# System-Wide Parameters
# System's registration domain is: etsi (it cannot be changed)

/hostname "WLF15"
/configure inactivity-timeout 10
/configure recovery-ssid add
/configure snmp rocommunity public
/configure snmp rwcommunity private

#Trap targets

/configure trap-target add MBW_NMS_Server port 162 retry-count 3 timeout 1500 security-name none
#
#TXOP CONFIGURATION
#
/configure interface dot11Radio 0 txop 1000
/configure interface dot11Radio 1 txop 1000
#
#FE CONFIGURATION
#
/configure interface FastEthernet 0 enable
/configure interface FastEthernet 0 auto-negotiation enable

#
# PRIVACY
#
#
# RADIUS AUTHENTICATION SERVER
#
#
# RADIUS ACCOUNTING SERVER
#
/configure radius retry-primary-interval 900
/configure radius interim-interval 600
#
# WPA PARAMS
#
/configure privacy wpa gtk-interval 172800 data-encryption tkip preauthentication disable protocol wpa1
/configure privacy wpa ssid 1 key-mngmnt psk passphrase "00000000"
#
# SSID WEP KEY
#
/configure privacy wep ssid 1 key 1 40 00:00:00:00:00
#
# MAC FILTER LIST PARAMS
#

#
# Wme configuration
#
/configure interface dot11Radio 0 wme voice cw_min 3 cw_max 4 aifs 2 txop-limit 3264
/configure interface dot11Radio 0 wme video cw_min 4 cw_max 5 aifs 2 txop-limit 6016
/configure interface dot11Radio 0 wme best-effort cw_min 5 cw_max 10 aifs 3 txop-limit 0
/configure interface dot11Radio 0 wme background cw_min 5 cw_max 10 aifs 7 txop-limit 0
/configure interface dot11Radio 1 wme voice cw_min 2 cw_max 3 aifs 2 txop-limit 1504
/configure interface dot11Radio 1 wme video cw_min 3 cw_max 4 aifs 2 txop-limit 3008
/configure interface dot11Radio 1 wme best-effort cw_min 4 cw_max 10 aifs 3 txop-limit 0
/configure interface dot11Radio 1 wme background cw_min 4 cw_max 10 aifs 7 txop-limit 0


#
# Classifier configuration
#

# do not remove command until other solution is found!
# used for hostapd start in configuration
/restart-hostapd

# end of access point configuration file

 

[spidey07]

If your SNR/RSSI is good and you think it's not a actual signal or noise problem and a reset/boot fixes it that screams software/firmware. If the manufacturer isn't being much help that can lead you to make assumptions on the quality of their software.

 

[drebo]

I'd look at Motorola Canopy gear. It's designed for this, and it doesn't operate on 2.4ghz. It may be a bit more expensive, but it's worth it when your customer support costs get cut by 60% because shit actually works the way it's supposed to.

 

[northlewbroadbb]

Thanks guys and I have looked at the firmware on different units and they seem fine as have 7 nodes but it's just the one doing it with the air occupancy going up sometimes with a tx frame error of around 2% but had one last night with a 100% TX error. The A510's in scanning mode only happens to certain units but changing them out is £250 a go so was hoping that their might be other ideas but understand as you can't see any outputs you can't really make any diagnostics, difficult as it's just me in the whole country using this type of kit.. lessons learned.

As for Motorola, their kit is overpriced and does exactly the same as my current purpose built kit the only difference as you say is the customer service issue and of course firmware updates but this styuff wasn't exactly cheap with panels costing around £4k and omni's around £3k each.. I'm in the wrong job I should be making this rather than trying to figure out why it doesn't bloody work!

I've just had £362,500 worth of investment for these next 7 villages and was going to use the same kit but with the current problems and no answer from them as to the reasons, I might give some of the RepeatIT or Ruckus stuff a look not sure if you guys have tested any of it? but so much money to throw away if I get it wrong and as I'm the only guy doing it the media will have my head on a block in no time! So no pressure...

Anyway, all I can think of is the scanning issue is caused by some sort of interference at times by the signal being on a fringe during good weather and rain which is at 2.4ghz causing the units to loose signal .. or a microwave.. or trees.. or God.. who knows! buyt I know when I test them on site they work fine.

The reboot I am leaning to some sort of CRC error building up until the unit reboots to try and clear it built into the firmware some place <sigh> but then we could be getting back to the whole interference issue. It's only niggly but it's the end user who is suffering when they are trying to bid on ebay and they get a 404! Anyway, sorry rambling <moaning>

Thanks for your input anyway guys.

Chris