So i have 5 RB 532s and 7 8602 cards. 3 cards from one source, 3 from another, and 1 from a final source (READ: Not all same batch)
(Tried different late os revisions starting with 2.9.18)
VS.
16 WRAP 2c boards EACH with 2 8602’s each. (2.9.22)
Aside from ONE wds issue, the 16 wrap boards serve wifi clients ALL day and everyone of them has huge uptimes and no problems…
I get the hardware i described at the top in, and i’ve had NOTHING but problems. first off, i set the cards to 26db, all rates fixed. the machine keeps rebooting it self in an endless loop. this was the case for 3 different 8602 cards on 3 different RB 532…only way to fix it, remove the card, put it in a GOOD boards, and then set the rates back. Finally i came across one that would work fine…OR SO I THOUGHT…its just waits a while to reboot..maybe 6-12 hours.
NOW IF I MOVE ANY OF THE PROBLEM CARDS OVER TO ANY OF MY RB 112’s they have NO PROBLEMS AT ALL. MOVE THEM BACK TO THE RB532, ENDLESS REBOOTS.
I’ve read the threads saying NOT to use all rates fixed, and DEFAULT setting works best…this is wrong, simply put: at 17db (or default) i have several rooms that DO NOT get coverage or service, at 26 or even 30db they work just fine. I mean at the location i have the wrap boards, this setting change is the difference between 60 rooms having coverage or not, so i dont buy that “default” is the best setting
anyone have any solutions or ideas?
I hate to send all these RBs back and get wrap boards. Why does everyone talk so much trash about the wrap boards?
You should leave the rates to default – these come from the card and the card manufacturers sets them.
AGAIN YOU ARE CHANGING THINGS YOU DON’T UNDERSTAND…
Read the specs sheet and you will understand that all rate should not be at the same power. Again I suggest to go back to defaults ‘/system reset’ and see how that works.
Tully, believe me that 8602 have serious problems. I changed a lot of settings that i do understand, but at the end I gave up and I replaced 10+ of these cards with SR2 and now everything works just fine. Problems showed up with RB112 and RB532, no matter what board Im using. I havent tested 8602 with wrap boards, but it should be interesting to try. Honestly, I cant believe that Senao allowed that confort to themselves to make so rubbish cards?? If they really works with wrap boards just as they should, (as jo2jo says ) than where the hell should be the problem with RB??
Maybe they won’t work at all, but we can’t worry about the hardware if it is not clear that the software config is correct. So, you should set the software to “/system reset” and then do a test and then send the supout file to support@mikrotik.com …
After that, we will look for problems in the hardware of antenna setup…
We have about 40 RB532s with 8206s installed and don’t have any reboot problems with the tx-power set to default. If you set the tx-power, especially to something like 26, you will have problems. Setting it to default makes the RB532 operate stable AND you get 26db power (measured with spectrum analyzer).
dsovereen, you can consider yourself very lucky!
I can`t desribe you what different problems I had with those cards: router rebooting, random clients disconnection, tx signal weakening…
I really did everything what could be done to fix the problem, experimented as much as possible, bcouse I had 12 routerboards with these cards, and was very desperate. At the end I swapped all cards with SR2.
Maybe they are OK on 5GHz band, I used them on 2.4 only, maybe I had that bad luck that I got a whole bunch of faulty cards… who knows. At the end, my experience with 8602 are very bad
Tully, how do you explain that at 30db i get coverage of rooms, and 23 or less I DONT. I test signal and coverage with 3 or 4 different devices when i do these things too…you can also watch pings fall off if you have it set to 23 or less… ON WRAP BOARDS keep in mind. This is the EXACT same message you posted in one of my other threads about a similar issue.
I do have the jumper set to the right setting for power as well. 48V PSU does not help.
Should i just post my Supout file here or does it contain sensitive info, ive never had to deal with one before.
Thanks for the quick discussion, this seems like a hot topic.
We are seeing problems with different batches purchased at different times.
Some cards are just fine, others reboot at default power but not at 14dB, we have had two that dropped 20dB in output AND receive strength three days after install.
Very strange, we are now moving away from them as results are just too unpredictable.
The most annoying thing is the first set we bought worked just fine with MT.
ghmorris, do you use the cards in 2.4, 5GHz or mixed?
2.4 band in my case was giving exactly the same problems as you described.
Can`t comment 5GHz mode, we are using SR5 for this band from the very begining
Behaviour is the same in both bands. Totally unpredictable, some cards are just fine, others are terrible regardless what you do, some are OK if you turn the power right down.
My first 30 units worked and continue to work great, all on RB532s. Get a few more in the field and we can develop a better picture. We have something close to 100 in production now I estimate.
As I’ve mentioned, the problem varies by batch and does not present as one consistent problem, but rather as several different problems that appear at random, apparently governed by the phases of the moon!
BTW, I do NOT understand why you are trying to drive a 26dB card at 30dB. That seems more than a little unconventional as does running a card that clearly has a graduated power output at different modulations at “all levels fixed”.
Would you care to explain please? Considering you are apparently driving the cards way outside the spec the data you present is less useful to the rest of us and is apparently useless for determining if there really is a driver problem with MT.
I can run the wrap boards with 8602’s at ANY fixed rate.
VS.
I can only run SOME 8602 cards at fixed rates on Router Boards. If i set a card to a fixed rate and it causes any of my 3 RB532s here to continously reboot, i simply pop that card into one of the wrap boards here and it boots fine, at the same level the RB was having trouble with. If i set the card (while in the wrap board) back to default, i can then put it back in the RB532 and boot it with NO ISSUES.
I’ll make it as clear as possible: ALL RATES FIXED works on wrap boards fine, its very flaky at best on RBs.
we can argue back and forth that i’m dumb for setting them at 26 or 30 or NOT at default, but that is not the problem here…and unless anyone want to drive out to florida and see EXACTLY what im talking about (1/4 of this complex does not get coverage if i have the rates fixed at anything less than 23db) I’m using huge 90 degree sector 17dbi antennas as well, so the RX sensitivity is great at any TX power.
OK, please forgive me for pointing out the obvious.
MT runs differently ion different platforms. We use VIA, Intel, AMD, RB230s, RB532s and RB112s.
They all have their little quirks and oddities.
It is no surprise that a card with known hardware glitches is going to run differently on different platforms. You acknowledge driving the 8602 well outside its design spec and recognize that you’re having problems. Many of us that have done a lot of work with 8602s feel the first thing you do with a flaky 8602 is turn the power down.
Your application won’t let you do that and still run properly. Fair enough.
You are probably going to be better off cutting your losses and trying something like an SR5 in your application or sticking with WRAPs. Generally SR5s are fairly predictable and many people have had decent results with them, us included. Some people have had problems. Again, there seems to be some variance in different batches and we’ve certainly seen that.
As I’m sure you’re already aware, MT has been selling a 6th generation Atheros card for quite a while (the R52) and it is reported to work well so a driver issue is perhaps unlikely although not out of the question.
hmm.. it seems that on any of my RB 532s w/ 8602 cards tured to Default power, if i enable or disable the card, the router hangs and i have to pull the power from it.
Dave,
How were you able to get 26dB out of the 8602 in 5GHz mode? AFAIK, 8602 only produces this power in 2.4GHz. Are you sure you measured 26dB in 5GHz with spectrum analyser?
