9000i autoswitch from wired to wireless?

Hedberg

We're installing a couple of the 9000i touch panels and everything seems to work ok both wired and wireless. Problem is that when they are removed from the dock station (where they are wired/ethernet) they don't automatically reconnect to the master via wireless though the TPs indicate that they are, in fact, connected to the access point. Anything that affects the wireless connection, like touching anything to do with WEP or re-selecting the access point from the site survey, or (of course) a reboot or shutdown/restart and the wireless connection to the master will be remade just fine. But, just removing from the dock station doesn't do it.

So, should it auto connect to the master via WiFi when removed from the dock station?

We're using the Netgear blue box Waps (WG102) which have given us the best success of all the waps, so I don't think that's it, though it could be. Also there is newer firmware (which will be loaded when we go out there next week. Would have done it today but we didn't have internet access). Is this one of the issues that was addressed with the latest firmware or is it just the way it is? Is it necessary to turn on roaming? Hadn't thought of that before.

vining

Hedberg wrote: »

Is this one of the issues that was addressed with the latest firmware or is it just the way it is?

Looks like you have the "force undock" issue below. (from newest 9000i firmware notes)

Known Issues:

Dock and Undock:


•If a panel is docked, any loss of network connectivity on the wired interface (such as a connected switch going down) may lead to unexpected issues like one way voice or inability to connect to remote servers (e.g. for SIP, dynamic images).
•If the wired interface will not be used (in other words, the docking station is being used for panel storage and charging only), the Wired network settings should be left at their factory defaults (DHCP).
•When you remove a panel from a dock without doing a swap (ie. a forced undock) it will take longer to reconnect wirelessly with ICSP encryption on than without. That is because in this case, we actually have to wait for the master to timeout our device number, so we can reconnect to it with the same device number. It is a security feature of using ICSP encryption. With non-encrypted, we can quickly disconnect and reconnect to a master using the same device id. Unencrypted might take 3-4 seconds, while encrypted will take around 15-20 seconds.

Hedberg

Ok, according to the documentation, in order to do a swap from wired to wireless, an "undock request" needs to be made. This "undock request" is supposed to be made by pressing the "undock button on the Docking Station." But, in our case, when the button is pressed, a swap does not occur -- ever. The warning popup appears every time. So, a "forced undock" is the only undock available.

Apparently, there is supposed to be some way for this to work, but it doesn't for us. Perhaps the newer firmware will fix this. Sure do hope so.

John Nagy

Our dealers have found best results with leaving the default WIFI connection as the only connection, and not using the hard wire connection. Renegotiation of the connection just takes too long for the customer, often results in unexpected page navigation, and just has no benefits in most environments.

In sensitive commercial installs or where WIFI is severely constricted for security or other reasons, it could make sense to shift to wired where possible. They may be more willing to tolerate the behavior that results.

Hedberg

Yes, that might be what we do -- just go with the wireless.

a_riot42

Hedberg wrote: »

Yes, that might be what we do -- just go with the wireless.

The only benefit I could ever see was if you were sending component video to the panel when its docked but I don't think that's even possible.
Paul

vining

John Nagy wrote: »

Our dealers have found best results with leaving the default WIFI connection as the only connection, and not using the hard wire connection. Renegotiation of the connection just takes too long for the customer, often results in unexpected page navigation, and just has no benefits in most environments.

In sensitive commercial installs or where WIFI is severely constricted for security or other reasons, it could make sense to shift to wired where possible. They may be more willing to tolerate the behavior that results.

I've only installed 2 of these panels but in this installation both are docked but only one is dock with wired ethernet. These panels almost never leave the dock and the only time that I know of that my client's wife undocked to use she complained about the weight. So in this instance they will most likely stay docked 99% of the time and when they do remove them from the docks they will likely carry out to the patio (if evening) so I guess it depends on the install whether to leave them wi-fi only or both (They have R4's or 5200's for all TV location). If it stays in the dock why congest an access point that's runs at 1/2 duplex. Not that there's much else on the wireless network.

I guess I'll to play with it and see how bad it really is.

John Nagy

a_riot42 wrote: »

The only benefit I could ever see was if you were sending component video to the panel when its docked but I don't think that's even possible.
Paul

The 9000 has no live video. Just IP video.

[Deleted User]

Can you check your Master FW version? MVP-9000i swapping has a prereq..."Master FW capable of hotswapping build 439 or later".

Hedberg

amxcjc wrote: »

Can you check your Master FW version? MVP-9000i swapping has a prereq..."Master FW capable of hotswapping build 439 or later".

You've got it right. I loaded the latest master and TP firmware and the autoswap works fine.

Thanks for the advice/thoughts.

Colzie

I had an issue last night with a 9000i not switching over after being undocked. TP FW is 2.53.24 and master FW is 3.50.439. I looked at the log file and the panel would come online (wirelessly) then drop offline after about a minute. It was doing this repeatedly until a reboot. I did see this item in the log file:

Closing connection to due to failed address swap

But usually it was just these:

CICSPTCP Rx connection to 192.168.1.51 has been closed locally or by peer
ICSPTCP12::CloseSocket: Closing Socket

I'll be calling tech support when they open but thought I'd see if anyone else has had this issue.