maxit
join:2009-02-22
Fort St James, BC | reply to tranzeo
Re: [Equipment] Tranzeo Class Action Lawsuit or Boycott
>>So, head over the Tranzeo Forum
Link pls.... |
|
bcbuie
join:2005-07-20 | I second that, where the heck is the tranzeo forum? |
|
SuperWISP
join:2007-04-17
Laramie, WY
4 edits | reply to tranzeo
Ah, this is Damian. In any event, I sent Tranzeo tech support a memo based on the template.... Next time I called they said they couldn't find it; had to go through a whole dance again.
Again, this is a quirk that really frustrates some WISPs. They need to be able to reset radios on evenings, over weekends, while they're dangling from a tower. They are justifiably annoyed if they can't. Especially when every other brand allows it. (Including every other Canadian brand, so the claim -- made by some of Tranzeo's tech support people -- that Canada makes it illegal to have a reset button on networking equipment just doesn't wash.)
Again, I know a few WISPs who moved away from Tranzeo just due to this one corporate "hangup."
As for 5.4 GHz: I understand that there are problems with the FCC rules. But at least it would be nice to know, via the model number, what a given radio could do! Some radios which will never have DFS capability have exactly the same model number as others that do. Even a prominent version number (if you REALLY didn't want to change the model number) would help. We have started writing the radio card type (Tranzeo's code for it, anyway) on every radio with a laundry marker.
An old saying -- which long pre-dates the technology we're discussing here -- occurs to me. It says that the relationship between a business and each of its suppliers is like a marriage. Every possible partner has quirks and hangups, but it's hard to tell what their long term impact will be even if you know about them upfront. And you rarely know about all of them upfront, so you almost always wind up putting up with unexpected "surprises." If those surprises are too burdensome, or you find that you just can't live with them or reach some form of compromise when they emerge, that's when you consider divorce.
Unfortunately, I have encountered a fair number of WISPs who are "divorcing" themselves from Tranzeo. Which I hate to see, because at bottom you're a good company.
All you'd need to do to keep some of these WISPs is come to some reasonable (and, in many cases, zero cost) compromises with your customers. You might want to consider, for example, having a reset switch that can be disabled if the WISP chooses to lock the radio up tight. (I actually implemented this feature on Deliberant's Linux-based RTL8186 radios. It was an unauthorized patch, but because it was Linux I was able to do it.) Other issues, such as the model number issue, are mainly a matter of labeling. The lack of good documentation for the products (including tips and tricks) can also be solved for very little money; contact me for ideas on how to deal with this one.
The point is that most of the gripes that customers have with Tranzeo can be resolved very easily, and I'd like to see this happen. You're a few tweaks away from being one of the best suppliers. Why not bring in a few WISPs for a "focus group" and just LISTEN to them? |
|
webformix
join:2009-01-25
Bend, OR
| reply to bcbuie
Hmm... I've looked over Tranzeo's website, and did some google searches for their forum, but it wasn't jumping out at me. I found their twitter account. Tranzeo should make this forum easy to find. Both Mikrotik and Ubiquiti feature it prominently on their sites. |
|
SuperWISP
join:2007-04-17
Laramie, WY | Last time I looked, it was at
»www.tranzeo.com/sandbox/trunk/
and there were no new postings for about two months. |
|
cdiggity
join:2008-09-04
| reply to SuperWISP
said by SuperWISP  : The lack of good documentation for the products (including tips and tricks) can also be solved for very little money; contact me for ideas on how to deal with this one. this isn't hard, set up some very basic documentation, or even just an outline on how you would like your documentation organized and your users will basically write it for you.
Thank god mikrotik set up a wiki. nothing stinks more than being told "go search in the forum" for the particular reply in the particular thread that when you piece it together with 4 other threads yields a workable solution to whatever problem you are having
/end rant |
|
tranzeo
join:2009-10-26 | reply to SuperWISP
Then make a post ! |
|
commtech
join:2009-11-04
| reply to webformix
LoL, hehm yea Tranzeo.. well i bought their radios for our WISP in BC. had a fleet of one of the very first models, CPE80 i think is what they called that abomination.. if you think they are bad now.. lol.. they have improved, but sadly, not much.
If you were there for the early days, you would have gotten to experience the "firmware update to remove a bug, then add two bugs that brick your radio ", days... fun!
can't say we have completely phased out of using them, they are the wallmart of the wireless world. cheap, get what you pay for radios. we use them still on non critical stuff like road condition cams and wx stations that can hold/burst data.
my advise, save your energy, flog it on ebay, and go with a more reliable brand.
We went over to Canopy BH and Aruba for the hotspots and LM |
|
webformix
join:2009-01-25
Bend, OR
| reply to webformix
It's been a little while, but I have an update. Tranzeo has responded to my issues regarding the CPQ and SL product lines running out of memory for NAT while processing 100+ connections. They put me in direct contact with senior support, and have been very pro-active in testing and trying to resolve this issue. They've provided a few beta firmwares to test out, and it looks as though they've improved performance, but it's not perfect. It's as good as it gets, as these radios simply do not have enough memory to deal with the load. Apparently they're designing an updated client radio that will be more beefy and will not have this issue.
I believe the update will keep 99% of my clients with Tranzeo radios happy, the other 1% (around 10-15 users) will be upgraded to WiMAX or another vendor's radio.
Thanks go out to Neal @ Tranzeo for checking in with me on an almost daily basis, and for trying to resolve this issue in a timely manner. |
|
cmaenginsb
Premium,MVM
join:2001-03-19
Palmdale, CA | reply to webformix
Cool, while it's not good that you have to rant in a public forum, to get it, it's nice that they are willing to do something for you.
--
CCNA, Comtrain Certified Tower Climber |
|
j2sw
join:2006-05-02
Williamsport, IN
| reply to webformix
If the equipment does not fit your needs ditch it and move on. What do you think a class action lawsuit will get you? Blackballed for one thing. I am sure the Tranzeo folks will be real willing to work with you on future issues after a lawsuit.
Try Mikrotik, UBNT, and a host of others.
--
Justin S. Wilson
»www.mtin.net/blog |
|
grayfox
join:2007-12-10
Whitby, ON
 ·TekSavvy Solutions..
·Bell Sympatico
2 edits | reply to webformix
At the WISP I work for were about 30% ubiquiti and 70% tranzeo.
Here's a break down of what ive noticed about tranzeo's.
Tranzeo
CPE's (SL2's and CPQ's)
pro's
-physically as durable as you can probably get, they can be beaten to hell and still work
-Reasonably priced for the 15dbi models
-Good poe's
-easy to install
-easy to use web interface
-5 year warranty
-telephone support, this is the only reason were not 100% ubiquiti and why 95% of the new units we buy are tranzeo, my boss's love this.
con's
-Lack of basic QOS features most notably lack of incoming and outgoing speed limits like the ubiquiti's have. This is a really basic feature that ever CPE should have.
-Lack of more advanced QOS features such as ability to optimise for voip.
-Web interface looks like a geocities page circa 1995
-Lack of basic tools, ping, traceroute, speedtest
-No SSL support
-site survey (AP list) tool sometimes doesn't work rebooting the unit fixes it.
-At least 5 of the 19's we have in service have the wrong mac printed on the label or have a digit missing from the mac printer on the label.
-only brand of equipment that we have gotten DOA hardware from ever.
-slow performance in router mode but acceptable with latest firmware
-Ubiquiti's PowerStation2 preforms equal or better despite that it only has a 17dbi antenna in almost all situations.
Were ditching the 19's in the future for ubiquiti bullets with external antenna's, We expect to have better results when we do this.
AP's
ER1000 series
pro's
-By far the most stable AP ive ever encountered, we have some with uptimes over a year, they never need a reboot and always keep working properly
-Based off the Gateworks GW2348 platform thanks to this they support dd-wrt, they also have a hardware watchdog.
-Powerful processor (533mhz intel xscale), tons of ram 64megs, and tons of flash thanks to the cf card (between 256-2GB)
-They appear to run linux (File system on cf card is JFS), log files located on it make me think its running linux.
-Well designed web interface
-Spare mini-pci slot just pop in another radio flash dd-wrt and you have your self a multiradio AP.
-Telephone support & 5 year warranty
con's
-Software isn't very feature rich compared to alternatives such as dd-wrt
-Firmware updates take 20 minuets
TR6600 series
pro's
-Has enough ram to function properly
-Great AP for area's with less then 30 customers
-Makes an awesome cpe
-5 year warranty & Telephone support as all tranzeo products have
-Never had one die ever
Cons
-No QOS
-Same geocities style web interface
-Don't like 30+ customers very much when acting as an ap, Tends to get temperamental or have throughput issues.
-No hardware watchdog, when they lock up (This tends to happen during/after storms) it requires a drive out to the tower there on to unplug them and plug them back in
-Sometimes they won't boot right and only the power LED will come on, rebooting them again fix's this
TR5PLUS series
Pro's
-Very Reliable
-Good performance
-Only ever had one die
-5 year warranty & Telephone support as all tranzeo products have
Con's
-Same geocities style web inteface, other then that no complains
edit: Over all were very happy with tranzeo.
edit: nevermind I just setup a new 19 fresh from the box. The most critical complaint I had about them has been fixed I can set a upload cap on the client unit.
firmware version
TR6-5.0.3CPQ-HWr3
Nov 03, 2009 16:31
Interesting that units are shipping with newer firmware then is on the website. Latest on the site is 4.0.3.
»img130.imageshack.us/img130/4148···otfq.jpg |
|
