broken network hardware is always fun

so, i bought this great little 3com office connect wireless ap like.. 8 or 9 months ago for $10 off ebay. it worked flawlessly with my whole network setup, rarely crashed, etc. then, this last friday, it decided to give up the ghost, which meant it was time to go looking for a new ap. i looked all over, saw all kinds of shit wrong with the linksys WRT/WAP54G/11 series, all kinds of problems with belkin devices not allowing the kind of features i need for my network, netgear devices dying after a year, etc. i settled on a dlink dwl-g700ap. i got it with a rebate, etc from newegg and figured it’d just be one of those 1. configure, 2. connect, 3. use sorts of things. i was so naiive. first, i checked the firmware; sweet, it’s the latest version with wpa2-psk support. second, i configured it for my network, using all appropriate gateways and whatnot for my m0n0wall (great BSD based routing/firewall platform) box. switched cables around so it was connected to m0n0, powered it up. ap appears in the intel ap viewer, connects fine, psk is working. tried to pull up a website–no dice. first the device refuses to allow all traffic, then it decides some traffic is ok and allows me to connect to the gui for the ap. well..shit. i unplug things, swap cables thinking that the port might not be mdix, no dice. i start a ping -t 192.168.5.1 (opt1 intf on m0n0) from my laptop’s commandline..destination host unreachable (surprise, surprise) i leave the ping running, and pull up the m0n0wall console from my wired desktop pc. i ping the ap’s ip address, it echoes. wtf? i look over at the screen, and it’s getting an echo from the gateway. i try to connect to the vpn on m0n0, it connects. the internet is now available. i see it’s working and leave it alone because i had work to do. went out for awhile, came back, wlan is still working. make a change to the device to turn off psk for a bit so i can apt-get some updates for the ipw2200bg driver in lunix, and it stalls out again. no connection to the internet. i ping the device again, the connection starts working. within 5 mins, it stops again. i start pinging it again with the m0n0, it works, then stops less than a minute later.

now, i hate calling any level 1 tech support (with the exception of speakeasy, they rock) dlink is no exception- after being on hold with dlink’s tech support number for almost an hour, some really under-enthusiastic technician answers the phone. he takes down my info and asks my problem. i explain the issue and his reply? “what do you want *me* to do about it?” i tell him that i was hoping that he might be able to put me in touch with someone who knew what they were doing. his response? *click*  the fucker hung up on me. now, just because it’s like 3 am or whatever, i call back. wait on hold for another hour, i get some other poor sad soul. he listens to my problem, seems to understand what i’m saying when i use terms like ‘big router’ and stuff (since he thought the ap was a router) at any rate– he tells me there’s no one available at this hour other than tier-1 techs. he asks me for my info so he can add to the ticket the first tech opens– lo and behold, tech #1 had deleted my request and cleared all info and put in that i didn’t speak clear english. cute. tech #2 puts in that i’m to be forwarded to a tier-3/4 tech as soon as i call back at 8am the next day. so, this morning, i call at 8:00 pst. i wait 25 mins, get another level-1 tech who asks for my info, i give it to him, he asks me if i’m still having issues. i say yes. he transfers me up to tier 4. the highest tech support dlink has to offer for consumer products. i wait for 25 mins for the technician to be on the phone. he checks my info– tech #2 had entered the wrong product and put my issue as “WEIRD NETWARK SETUP”.  i explain to mr. leet my issue. he repeats it back to me 5-6 different ways before telling me that it’s unacceptable that i bought a product from them that doesn’t perform its most basic duty (no shit..) he then tells me i have two options: 1. reflash the firmware because SOMETIMES they’re buggy from the factory or 2. take the POS back (he said piece of shit. it did me proud.) he wished me a good day and hung up.

now, at this point, why am i bothering? because i didn’t buy locally. i bought from newegg, which is the best internet-order pc parts store in the world. i’d have to rma and shit and i really didn’t wanna mess with it. so..next order of business: reflashing the same firmware onto the unit. i already had downloaded the firmware in anticipation of having to update it from the box. i connect my desktop, flash the firmware, reconfigure it and reconnect it to m0n0. my fingers shake with anticipiation as i select OMFGOGGLES as my ap. it connects, authenticates…and…annd…..ANNNNND…it still has the same problem. i go into m0n0, and ping the unit..but this time, no internet? ha! fuck that. i boxed the fucker up and got in contact with newegg. rma refund, here i come. i’m just gonna get an enterprise level 802.11b ap that’s like 5 years old instead of fucking with this shitty consumer stuff.

how’s your day been? haha.

Comments