View Full Version : starvx client to wrap ap
I am trying to connect a starvx (war2) as a client to an existing wrap ap.
I can get the starvx to associate, but I cannot get them to exchange ip information or data. I am having the same problem whether I use a/b/ or g modes. I am also seeing very low SNR's which may be an artifact of my test gear. Any advise would be welcome
What are the config settings I should use for :
Short/Long Preamble - does the tick turn short on or off
WMM/WME - does the tick turn WMM or WME on or off
Rts -
Frag
Also I am assuming either of the connectors on the CM9 can be used, but which one is Antenna 1 & which is Antenna 2
lonnie
01-20-2006, 08:58 AM
Make sure you have the distance set to the actual plus a couple of miles. Just leave the other settings alone until you get a working system.
Short/Long Preamble - the tick turns Short with Long on. Default is Short only.
WMM/WME - does the tick turns WMM and WME on
On a CM9 the first antenna is the top tight.
ianek
01-21-2006, 06:59 AM
Just to be precize : Short preamble is NOT working in VX software . It can connect only TO LONG or BOTH preambles mode .
What i cannot understand is ethics of selling more more quantities of unusable devices.
Ian
David L. Vrablic
01-21-2006, 09:01 AM
VX connecting to what?
Why not leave it set to both and continue with your testing.?
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A few words in defense of the boys up north:
These poor guys can't win for loosing.
There is a need for a low cost high throughput replacement for the WRAPS.
The guys at Valemont go to work night and day to fill the need.
They first attack the problem of point to point over a long haul so you don't have to go out and purchase gear that cost $10,000 a link or more to go across a river or expand to another town.
--------------
They are bombarded with requests for immediate additions to keep a few people happy. (Like the preamble issue that they responded to in a timely manner)
Some folks were getting almost hostile that they did not release the new WAR units, so they started shipping in a stripped down mode for those that could use what thay had working.
Now there is upset VX and now V3 doesn't do every feature the old V2 product did right out of the box.
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The VX product is a point to point product right now.
V3 is in testing and when it is finalized and ready for public consumption it will be released for us to use with limitations at first.
The way I understand it The first release will be point to point WAR to WAR and client to existing systems.
AP to existing clients is going to be another "Can of worms I am sure"
Lonnie tests all products "On his own wireless system, in a real world enviroment" before releasing it. (Not just something that is whipped up on a bench and run for a week on a controlled site and pushed out the door)
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I need an Super WAR AP with HotSpot functions and I don't think that will happen for a long time if ever.
I also need a MESH product.
You don't hear me grumbling....I am one guy and that is what I need. If I can't wait I will have to stick with the WRAPS and V2 or look elsewhere for a product that will do what I need.
That is just the way it is with any manufacture that is on the cutting edge.
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Please don't impune Lonnie and Tonys integrity for any best effort attempts at compatability.
They only have standards to work with. If other manufactures don't abide by those standards or take short cuts to make their own products work together, how can they be responsible for systems that will not work correctly across platforms?
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I have used STAR since the beginning (When it was BSD in a box with external AP's) and we are online with no problems of any kind.
It's up to me to use the right tool in the right place.
Rant Off:
David L. Vrablic
01-21-2006, 09:18 AM
Tim,
I got corn-fuzed once with some OEM CM-9 cards that I bought.
If they don't have the white lable that says CM-9 right on it but you have been assured they are 5004 and are the same as CM-9 they might be reversed. "On those cards only" the #1 is inboard from the corner.
On a true White lable CM-9 it is as Lonnie says the one closest to the corner.
A quick check is set the port for diversity and see if you get a change for the better than go from there. (If VX has that option)
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Also dread of dreads swap out the card and pigtail.
I just got my first bad "out of the box CM-9" last week.
It worked fine on the bench, Took the unit to a customer and the sig was low.
Back to the bench I swapped cards and the sig was 10 Dbi higher.
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Are you working with a known -good antenna with proper polarity???
I have been caught there also.
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You said a/b/g so I take it there is a CM-9 in the WRAP AP ??
lonnie
01-21-2006, 09:29 AM
The default is SHORT preamble and that does work, rest assured, or you would not have seen the requests for LONG, which is what the very ancient and cheap products use because they are too slow to resynchronize the radios with a short preamble. Short preamble is the most efficient which is why we have it for default.
When you click the check box you are selecting the mode that enables LONG and SHORT together. Our unit can deal with both.
We have advised this unit is for p2p units on your backhaul using our own units. The fact that long/short is an issue indicates you are not following my advice and are trying to use the unit as a p2mp AP with many different older client units.
We are a small, talented company. There is only so much we can do and we are doing what we consider to be the most important things first.
1. Stability
2. Performance
3. Features
Actually 1&2 are pretty much the same priority with us.
The implementation schedule is:
1. WAR boards
2. x86
I will say that we are working long hours and weekends to get this going according to the above schedules.
...
We have advised this unit is for p2p units on your backhaul using our own units. The fact that long/short is an issue indicates you are not following my advice and are trying to use the unit as a p2mp AP with many different older client units.
...
My question was pretty simple, can WAR clients talk to WRAP APs. I explained that I was not intending to use them in this mode merely to test them.
1) I am not using these units as p2mp APs, I am using them as clients
2) I am not using many different older client units, I am using WRAPs with the latest version of staros & with CM9 & Prism APs.
My current test rig consists of a calibrated 5.8 Ghz antenna connecting to a CM9 AP sitting in a WRAP 500 yards away, and a calibrated 2.4 GHz antenna connecting to a Prism AP also in a WRAP & also 500 yards away. Both the WRAPs have the latest version of staros on. I use these rigs to test kit BEFORE I install it in the field & I just cannot get the WARs to work.
From other discussions on this board (& your latest reply) it is still unclear to me whether anyone else has got this working or not.
If the answer to my question is WAR clients will not talk to WRAP APs then I will need to change my test rig. If the answer is, it does/should work then I have something else wrong. But please do not get irrate with me for asking a question
ianek
01-24-2006, 12:44 PM
Try to give everywhere in regulator domain ' ## ' . Maybe it will help you .
I used RB532 with checked short preamble - it cannot connect to WAR, only long or both preables are working . Tried with 'ancient' CM9 .
Anyway, i dont see any sense to waste your time with VX unusable software
Tim,
I got corn-fuzed once with some OEM CM-9 cards that I bought.
If they don't have the white lable that says CM-9 right on it but you have been assured they are 5004 and are the same as CM-9 they might be reversed. "On those cards only" the #1 is inboard from the corner.
On a true White lable CM-9 it is as Lonnie says the one closest to the corner.
A quick check is set the port for diversity and see if you get a change for the better than go from there. (If VX has that option)
These were the CM9s shipped by Lonnie with the WARs. The VX has the diversity option (I think) as the apconfig utility has 3 antenna selection options (1, 2 & both)
-----------
Also dread of dreads swap out the card and pigtail.
I just got my first bad "out of the box CM-9" last week.
It worked fine on the bench, Took the unit to a customer and the sig was low.
Back to the bench I swapped cards and the sig was 10 Dbi higher.
-----------
<sigh> I tried that, but got the same result with different CM9/pigtail.
Are you working with a known -good antenna with proper polarity???
I have been caught there also.
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You said a/b/g so I take it there is a CM-9 in the WRAP AP ??
Yes, both the client antennas are calibrated & permanently mounted to be used as test units. And the test APs they point at have a CM9 & a Prism AP respectively. The CM9 AP is connected to a 5.8GHz antenna only, so I cannot test it in b or g mode.
The antennas are fully lined up & the polarity is correct. The target AP sites are live, fully functional & only 500 metres away, with good SNR to everything else that connects to them.
So I can see nothing wrong with my test setup, which is why I raised the question.
lonnie
01-24-2006, 04:26 PM
We are using WAR boards with StarVx for clients. We have everything from Orinoco, 2511 and CM9. They are fine. They connect with WRAP boards, mini ITX, ATX-733 and ancient TT CPE with Orinoco PCMCIA.
Make sure you are at the latest firmware and config utility, which you will HAVE to do before they can be updated to the Linux v3 code. Might as well make sure they are ready now.
My question was pretty simple, can WAR clients talk to WRAP APs. I explained that I was not intending to use them in this mode merely to test them.
1) I am not using these units as p2mp APs, I am using them as clients
2) I am not using many different older client units, I am using WRAPs with the latest version of staros & with CM9 & Prism APs.
My current test rig consists of a calibrated 5.8 Ghz antenna connecting to a CM9 AP sitting in a WRAP 500 yards away, and a calibrated 2.4 GHz antenna connecting to a Prism AP also in a WRAP & also 500 yards away. Both the WRAPs have the latest version of staros on. I use these rigs to test kit BEFORE I install it in the field & I just cannot get the WARs to work.
From other discussions on this board (& your latest reply) it is still unclear to me whether anyone else has got this working or not.
If the answer to my question is WAR clients will not talk to WRAP APs then I will need to change my test rig. If the answer is, it does/should work then I have something else wrong. But please do not get irrate with me for asking a question
Thanks Lonnie
I have now got a WAR talking to a WRAP. THe WRAP has an ar5213. It is running at about 1500 KB/sec which I am quite pleased with. And means I can gradually replace my existing WRAP links one at a time.
I have still not managed to get it to work with Prism on a WRAP but I don't care about that. The prism sees the WAR, but they do not exchange ip addresses. THis is not something I actually need but I am including this information in case someone else is trying to do the same thing.
kevin
02-11-2006, 08:21 PM
There is not a person that uses this bulletin board, and has a WISP that has not experienced a customer that had a good signal, pings the tower good, but yet when we are away the customer has fits because of latency or whatever. God bless the ones that are patient with me when it takes a month to figure it out, and yes everyonce in awhile something like this still happens.
My point is backoff and relax, we currently have WARS that work exeptional at 2 towers, and they even coincide with wraps and 1 orinoco 1000. Yes we had to take a 2 down because of various problems. Yes we are impatient about putting them back up.
Once again bless the customer that has the patience with me...
Skaught
02-11-2006, 08:44 PM
I have given up on VX but that is not unexpected. Bleeding edge always has issues.
I am upset as it is causing me issues for my business but I am not upset at Lonnie. That would be like blaming the weatherman for the weather.
I took a huge chance by deploying VX as it was the least objectionable solution at the time. Just means I move on to other levels of challenge.
lonnie
02-11-2006, 09:49 PM
The new software is about a week away. The VxWorks converter must be tuned up for users and not developers. The radio card config screen is also being reworked for the new features now that the driver is done.
Sorry it did not work out.
Skaught
02-12-2006, 01:36 AM
I just got back from the tower. I replaced my WAR with a 3ghz V2 system. Speeds are WAYYYY up. At least 5x faster and my packet loss has vanished. Even considering I am using 50 feet of LMR400 cable and a D-Link AG530 PCI card.
I could not wait for my mPCI to PCI converter to come in. I may swap it out for a CM9 later this week but I may take the "If it aint broke don't fit it" approach.