Inssomniak
Premium
join:2005-04-06
Cayuga, ON
| Who runs around after storms to fix customers? Im not sure about the rest of you, but after a solid thunder storm Im either on the phone walking customers thru power cycling their radio or Im in the field changing radios or hotwiring Ethernet ports. Make of the radio is irrelevant.! Seems to be about 3% of customers.
I guess it depends on where you are at., but here in the Golden Horseshoe area of Southern Ontario, Intense lightning and thunderstorms are a regular occurrence in the summer, sometimes a few times a week.
No matter where a radio is installed, or what kind of grounding it has, they either blow ethernet ports in computers or the radio itself, freeze up, or what-have-you.
Yesterday included 2 waves of intense storms, which spawned tornado touchdowns in some areas.
Does anyone else have this problem? I cringe when I see thunderstorm warnings. | |
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Rhaas
Premium
join:2005-12-19
Bernie, MO
| Re: Who runs around after storms to fix customers? I do the same thing. There are a few customers that seem to get it quite a bit and it doesn't seem to matter what we do. The one thing I have seemed to notice is that it's the ones with a long horizontal run that seems to get it the most often. Most of the time it's a simple reboot though and only a few actual damaged units. | |
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joshg409
join:2005-05-03
Ottumwa, IA
| Yeah you aren't a WISP if you don't hate storms! It usually takes us two to three days to get everyone back online after a major storm. This weekend brought two storms with 60 -70 mph wind. Ripped tripods and dishes off roofs. the radios would have been fine if they didn't lay upside down and fill with water while still powered.
The best is the customers that call a week later to say they have been down for a week and are pissed. Hey if your service is out for more than an hour call in, its probably your gear. | |
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kewlkeed
Grouch
Premium
join:2005-02-05
Knowlton, QC
| We had a hell of a storm here the other night, only two actual equipment fatalities. One was a direct strike to a tree that was 2 feet from our radio, the radio oddly enough survived (Ubnt PS2) but the CAT5 cable was toasted, the switch and PoE were also blown out. The home owners submersible water pump controller system blew out so bad it almost blew off the wall. Our CAT runs underground next to the piping for the pump, and the well is also directly next to the tree. The tree itself that got hit was pretty much split and burned from the hit.
The other outage was a PS5 unit that blew out that was close to a lake and there was a direct strike on the lake no more than 200 feet from the shore, so that probably explains that one. It also blew out the PoE, the router, and the router's power supply.
Everything else that's tower mounted just kept right on humming even with some direct strikes, I spent most of the storm shooting pictures of the hits. Wish I caught some of the tower strikes because they were amazing, but I was in the car rushing home to get the camera to shoot the rest lol. Timing timing timing.
(I don't carry a 1D around in my truck like someone I know *COUGHSPLITPAIRCOUGH*)
--
Justin - DSLR resident grouch and Mr Negativity
TSI Fanboy - "Dontchya wish your 'net was hot like mine! Ohhh Dontchya!"
Have a nice day! | |
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GNca George
GorillaNET
Premium
join:2008-07-12
Minden, ON
| Inssomniak, we're a little north and east of you, Midland/Penetang is our closest approach to your patch.
We used to have a hell of a time with lightning, but over the years have developed a religious zeal for grounding.
We still have problems, but less and less every year. (Touch wood!!).
We typically run a daisy chain of Ethernet between all radios in the tower, so if we blow a switch or switch port at the base the radios still run. That was probably the biggest single improvement, along with shielded Ethernet grounded really well at the tower base...
Trango 900 radios are the toughest I have ever run across. Only lost a handful in six years of deployment with about 300 in the field. Wonderfully built.
George | |
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kewlkeed
Grouch
Premium
join:2005-02-05
Knowlton, QC
| Here's some shots from the night, sorry for the crappy quality as they were shot through a very very dirty window (Kids pressing their faces up to big clean bay windows seems to be inevitable).
Enjoy. | |
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GNca George
GorillaNET
Premium
join:2008-07-12
Minden, ON | Re: Who runs around after storms to fix customers? I love pics of lightning. Particularly someone elses!!! 
Those are really good. Must have been some storm. | |
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Inssomniak
Premium
join:2005-04-06
Cayuga, ON
| Re: Who runs around after storms to fix customers? said by GNca George  :Those are really good. Must have been some storm. It was  | |
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Splitpair
Premium
join:2000-07-29
Cow Towne
 ·T-Mobile US
| said by Inssomniak :Does anyone else have this problem? I cringe when I see thunderstorm warnings. Two of my favorite things in life are thunderstorms and anything made by Marconi as they both fill my wallet.
Wayne
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If you cannot fix it with a buttset and some beanies you ain't a technician | |
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maxit
join:2009-02-22
Fort St James, BC
| I was away for a week last summer and left only office staff. Heard of a rude customer who'd lost her connection calling every couple hours demanding I personally return to fix her system. Got to hear the ranting, literally screaming threats on the message machine!
When I did return, went directly to her house and there was a scorched circle 10-12 feet around, the radio shattered on a metal pole and the clothesline that was attached melted away and on the ground. Not one mention of that or the fact her hydro also had to be rehung on the message machine, she tried to give the "I had no idea" look when I pointed it out.
That's the only radio we've lost to lightning in 7 years. | |
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delmarvawifi
join:2008-07-15 | We've never lost a Canopy radio to lightening. Everything else Ubiquiti, Tranzeo, Mikrotik is a dime a dozen come lightening time. | |
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sigmtr
join:2007-01-04
Danville, IL
 ·AT&T Midwest
| In the Midwest US it's just a fact of doing business. We mostly see damaged CPE like routers or NIC devices. Any nearby strike can induce a voltage on Cat 5 that will fry Ethernet-level interfaces, but thankfully it rarely travels up and bites our subscriber units.
Even so, we expect to lose a half-dozen or so SU's during a typical summer storm season. We use a mixture of YDI/Terabeam/Proxim and Tranzeo units on the 2.4GHz system, and our 900MHz system is all Trango. The latter seem to be very robust in storms.
Now our presence on a "hot" AM tower is another story, but suffice it to say we lose some gear there at least once a season.
First post here, shows me as AT&T Midwest since I have DSL at home. But I do work for a WISP in Illinois. | |
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gunther_01
Premium
join:2004-03-29
Saybrook, IL
| WE do, We do.
I had one today, where Lightning hit a tree in the yard. He lost a few things in his NEW house. And our PS, POE, both ends of the cat5 (Keystone jacks) and the WAR1 board for his CPE. Didn't lose the radio card though LOL.
It's hit or miss for us though. Some times a bunch of stuff is broken. Other times, not a thing.
But in all fairness, I have been resetting electronics and radio transmitters after storms since I was in my early teens. I'm kind of used to it. Didn't say like it though  | |
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anonsurge
@covad.net
| I have to say, I have had hundreds of Canopy's up for 5+ years and can count on one hand the Canopy's I lost over the years. We started deploying Ubiquity's NS series last summer and these things blow their Ethernet ports at the mere mention of lightning. It is very frustrating. Even after jumping through hoops to ground them. We are going to start deploying the Engenius and see how they hold up. Ubiquity needs to make some changes, I love the radios except for this one flaw. And its a show stopper. | |
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Inssomniak
Premium
join:2005-04-06
Cayuga, ON
| We installed a customer 2 weeks ago.
During this aforementioned storm he was hit by lightning. We supplied and installed a router, and wired in 2 computers. The router was fried, as well as the ethernet ports in both computers, as well as the CPE (we saved that by using another port).
Would you charge again the customer for a new router? and replacement ethernet cards? | |
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| milbrath
join:2006-03-27
Dresden, TN | Re: Who runs around after storms to fix customers? Yes, without a doubt! If u do it once at not cost...guess what..your replacing it next time at no cost! | |
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mtroup
Marty
Premium
join:2007-06-28
Hermitage, AR
| said by Inssomniak :Would you charge again the customer for a new router? and replacement ethernet cards? It just depends, but I do not generally warranty anything past the CPE (which I retain ownership of, and replace for free) | |
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kewlkeed
Grouch
Premium
join:2005-02-05
Knowlton, QC
| It's wild the difference between regions. For instance some people hate Ubnt for lightning and praise Moto, then I know others who hate Moto for it and praise Tranzeo, then I know others who hate Tranzeo....
lol
For us the Ubnt's lost over 2 years can be counted on one hand. Be it lightning or whatever. With this storm like I said we toasted cables, but the radio just kept on going. We did toast another PS though but it was a heavy strike that would have arced across any circuit board regardless of make.
I second the "Religious Zeal for grounding" above hehehe. It pays off. But again oddly I have some units that have less problems when NOT grounded, go figure.
--
Justin - DSLR resident grouch and Mr Negativity
TSI Fanboy - "Dontchya wish your 'net was hot like mine! Ohhh Dontchya!"
Have a nice day! | |
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| public
join:2002-01-19
Santa Clara, CA
·DSL EXTREME
| Re: Who runs around after storms to fix customers? said by kewlkeed :I second the "Religious Zeal for grounding" above hehehe. It pays off. But again oddly I have some units that have less problems when NOT grounded, go figure. Randomly grounding parts is not a proper protection solution. You must analyze where the surge current is likely to flow, and what voltage rises can be expected. | |
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GNca George
GorillaNET
Premium
join:2008-07-12
Minden, ON
| said by kewlkeed :I second the "Religious Zeal for grounding" above hehehe. It pays off. But again oddly I have some units that have less problems when NOT grounded, go figure. The big trick sometimes is knowing where ground really is. We sit on a bunch of granite here in cottage country, and often have to run really long, multiple ground paths to where the nearest moist earth is. In some cases, more than 100' away.
A real PITA, particularly when the price of copper was way up there.
George
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Don't steal, the government doesn't like competition!!! | |
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kewlkeed
Grouch
Premium
join:2005-02-05
Knowlton, QC
| I never said it was a proper solution. Please don't change the meaning of what I'm saying.
Let me clarify. I have some units that, when grounded properly to spec, have blown repeatedly... But when floated and not grounded, they don't.
I don't go around and randomly pull off grounds and figure it works better because it doesn't blow up.
--
Justin - DSLR resident grouch and Mr Negativity
TSI Fanboy - "Dontchya wish your 'net was hot like mine! Ohhh Dontchya!"
Have a nice day! | |
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| gunther_01
Premium
join:2004-03-29
Saybrook, IL
| Re: Who runs around after storms to fix customers? in the case of routers,CPE, and NIC's..
we charge for replacement of lightning damaged equipment. By the hour, and equipment costs.
We dont claim to be a fix all for Mother nature. And most of the time there are other pieces in the home that were damaged as well as a result of lightning. It's called, home owners insurance. | |
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| public
join:2002-01-19
Santa Clara, CA
·DSL EXTREME
| said by kewlkeed :Let me clarify. I have some units that, when grounded properly to spec, have blown repeatedly... But when floated and not grounded, they don't. There is no simple universal ground to spec. You are connecting to an existing grounding system that is often poorly constructed.
If a surge comes in on existing wiring from outside, and the lowest impedance ground is at the cpe, then you are likely to see damage. | |
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gunther_01
Premium
join:2004-03-29
Saybrook, IL
| Half the time in these real old farm houses, you may end up grounding the house through your CPE and Cat5. If you do it wrong and just drive a ground rod in the ground and attach it to your CPE.
I love old homes. No grounds on outlets. No ground rod at all except a hundred feet away from the house where the aerial comes in. My favorite is aluminum wiring in the attic, with ceramic insulators Good stuff. | |
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shorthairedp
join:2005-11-21
united state
| We still have a couple of customers showing down after the storms here a few weeks ago. I used to try to make contact, but Ive found they never call back anyway. Eventually they decide to use their interweb, it doesnt work, they reboot, its all good.
I love the customers who call up in the middle of the thunderstorm complaining of the outage, like there is anything we can do...
i do though wish it were appropriate to put customers names up publicly, we have this one guy who seriously is a WISPs dream (absolutely no sarcasm, really a good guy), this guy desreves a thumbs up.
Any time there is an outage affecting him, he calls and leaves a very polite message to let us know he is down. When service is restored he calls back and leaves a very polite message to let us know its back up. He even says thank you every time.
This guy, I would go remount his equipment on a tv tower in the middle of a thunderstorm, but of course, he never has damaged equipment. | |
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petecarlson
join:2004-11-06
Baltimore, MD
| Baltimore got hit hard last night.
Ethernet link between an SLE and VXR is showing down on both devices. This link is one of our main feeds so when it went down we had some inbound routing issues because I have not yet set up BGP so all of the space is advertised from where it is used but rather is advertised from all of the edges. I was able to get in to the edge router via ssh from my phone going over at&t and turn off bgp on that router. I am counting this as 2 min and 30 seconds of down time even though we were only black holed from about half of the internet. I am praying that it is the transector and should know in about an hour...
We also had a cpe router lose it's OSPF configuration but I think someone forgot to copy run start. I was able to get in from an adjacent router and re-configure.
So far that's all the damage I have heard about. | |
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j2sw
join:2006-05-02
Williamsport, IN | Storms are just part of it. We try and mount everything in the easiest to get to place on the customer end. Our installers have learned they might have to go back by themselves to replace a unit.
Justin | |
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