[181237] in North American Network Operators' Group
Re: Ghosts in our 6 New Ubiquity Pros - provision issues.
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Mel Beckman)
Fri Jun 19 09:55:48 2015
X-Original-To: nanog@nanog.org
From: Mel Beckman <mel@beckman.org>
To: Hal Ponton <hal@buzcom.net>
Date: Fri, 19 Jun 2015 13:51:30 +0000
In-Reply-To: <BB5D1E88-14A8-4635-80ED-764B03434926@buzcom.net>
Cc: "nanog@nanog.org" <nanog@nanog.org>
Errors-To: nanog-bounces@nanog.org
Bob, I've deployed tons of Ubiquiti gear, and have seen this problem befor=
e. It always turns out to be poor quality cable installation. POE does not =
tolerate low quality connectors, especially in outdoor environments. There =
are many aspects to a quality cabling job, so the best thing you can do is =
seek out a qualified installer with outdoor POE experience.=20
The most common problem I see is people using crimp-on RJ45 connectors dire=
ctly on the ends of their cable runs. This is not how structured cabling is=
designed to work, in particular because most crimp-on connectors are inten=
ded for stranded copper wire (such as that used in very flexible patch cord=
s, designed to run horizontally over only a few dozens of feet), whereas th=
e "riser" and "plenum" cable used for long-distance runs has solid core wir=
es. The tiny teeth in standard crimp connectors are designed to penetrate s=
tranded wire, to make a solid electrical contact. With solid core wire, the=
y just bend to the side of the copper core, making tenuous contact, which w=
ill conduct POE current poorly (resulting in the resets you see) and eventu=
ally fail altogether as the improper connection corrodes over time.=20
The correct installation process is to use "punch-down" RJ45 jacks at each =
end of the cable run, and connect from those jacks to your equipment (radio=
at one end, POE switch at the other). On the outdoor side, the jack/plug j=
unction needs to be in a NEMA weatherproof enclosure, with weathertight fit=
tings. And, for human and equipment safety, you must use shielded Cat5e/6 c=
able anytime you go outdoors, grounding only one end (usually the radio end=
), and protecting the cable with an inline lightning protector between the =
RJ45 jack and the radio.=20
If you haven't done that, then that's the first thing to fix.=20
BTW, avoid homemade patch cables whenever possible. Quality factory cables =
are hydraulically pressed and the plug is hermetically fused for a vastly s=
uperior connection compared to anything you can do with simple hand crimper=
s. And all outdoor cables must be UV-grade cabling with weatherproof sheath=
ing and water repellant inside (so-called "flooded" cable).
-mel beckman
> On Jun 19, 2015, at 4:54 AM, Hal Ponton <hal@buzcom.net> wrote:
>=20
> What version of the controller are you using, we're running 3.something a=
t that works fine.
>=20
> We've turned off auto update on all of the sites on the server, and Nagio=
s monitors them, we certainly don't see reboots 2-3 times a day, the last t=
ime ours rebooted was when we lost power at our office.
>=20
> Contact me off list if you want me to take a look.
>=20
> Regards,
>=20
> Hal Ponton
>=20
> Senior Network Engineer
>=20
> Buzcom / FibreWiFi
>=20
> Tel: 07429 979 217
> Email: hal@buzcom.net
>=20
>> On 19 Jun 2015, at 11:01, Bob Evans <bob@FiberInternetCenter.com> wrote:
>>=20
>> Ubiquiti Networks UniFi UAP-PRO Enterprise WiFi System - hard to recomme=
nd
>> at this point. We saw people mention this brand here on the list - peopl=
e
>> like them. So what could we have set incorrectly ? They drop link and
>> re-provision on their own at odd times day or night.
>>=20
>> We have completed everything tech support asked of us. (Really, lame
>> emails they respond with as if they didn't read your text - they won't
>> call and you can't call them). We used POE from ciscos - then changed to
>> their POE provided. They didn't recommend it, but we plugged them all in=
to
>> APC UPSes..... no difference. They all re-provision at different times
>> even when no one is connected or in the building at odd hours like 2am.
>> Each one does this 2-3 times per 24 hour period.
>>=20
>> Has anyone else experienced this?
>> Anyone know what we may have set incorrectly ?
>> Is this normal - do people put up with the 2 mins the APs are unavailabl=
e
>> about 3 times a day? (UniFi support acts like it's not a big issues.)
>>=20
>> We use the UniFi controller on mac os x. We use their EdgeMax Edge Route=
r.
>> All the latest software in everything UniFi.
>>=20
>> Thank You
>> Bob Evans
>>=20
>>=20
>>=20
>>=20
>>=20
>>=20
>>=20
