[ANSS-netops] cell modems and first of the month

Fri Dec 2 19:06:34 UTC 2011

Philip,

I don't think I have much to add.  We don't see a 
pattern in drop outs, and certainly don't have to 
recycle power on our modems very often.  I know 
your pain and concern, however, as we also hate 
it when a costly maintenance trip is only to 
recycle the modem or RT130.  Note that we still 
only have Verizon modems at this point, and only a handful.

I do have to say that we have varying degrees of 
success with cell modems so far.  Some seem solid 
and others experience more drop outs.  We've 
compared RSSI and EC/IO numbers (thanks to 
someone at Feeney and Mark Meremonte) and don't 
see much correlation, including the fact that the 
one site that probably has the lowest RSSI also 
has the most complete data.  I would love to be 
able to plot traffic at a particular cell site 
versus data drop outs.  In other words, cell 
modems are still generally qualify as a last 
resort for our data telemetry needs.

Sorry I couldn't be more help.

Dave

At 09:36 AM 12/2/2011, Support wrote:
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>boundary="_005_33C2C86F559D98498A36C5C2536FEFEAC2CEA42AFeeneyDC1feeney_";
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>No,  The modems don’t require a daily resetting 
>of the devices.  An occasional power-cycling of 
>the modem wouldn’t hurt but should not be 
>required.   If you are having occasional issues 
>with the strength of the signal (RSSI – Receive 
>Signal Strength Indicator being low (higher 
>negative value)), then we would need to 
>determine what the issue is one a case-by-case 
>basis.  You also want to watch the EC/IO (a 
>measure of energy (interference)) as well.  A 
>directional antenna should provide a better 
>signal.  Whether the device has to be reset 
>depends on its recovery once the connection has been re-established.
>
>One other thing to watch is the modem and device 
>firmware.  Make sure it is kept current.  This also helps.
>
>Thanks,
>
>Roger K. Parker
>Engineering Technician
><mailto:rparker at feeneywireless.com>rparker at feeneywireless.com
>Feeney Wireless, LLC  - 4085 W. 11th Ave. Unit #3, Eugene, Oregon 97402
>(Free) 800-683-4818
>http://shopping.netsuite.com/c.491803/site/signature_bullet.gif
>   (P) 541-685-9045 x227
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>   (F) 541-284-0030
><http://www.feeneywireless.com/>www.feeneywireless.com
>
>http://shopping.netsuite.com/c.491803/site/signature_image.gif
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>From: Mark E. Meremonte [mailto:meremonte at usgs.gov]
>Sent: Friday, December 02, 2011 8:59 AM
>To: Philip Crotwell; anss-netops at geohazards.usgs.gov
>Subject: Re: [ANSS-netops] cell modems and first of the month
>
>HI Phillip,
>
>Is it a requirement to daily power cycle a 
>Raven-X, XT, XE if using Verizon service?   I 
>have numerous Cell modems across the country now 
>and have never power cycled them.   However, I 
>do have a couple that had weak to nill signal 
>strength from time to time; and 2 which the 
>RT130 would not renegotiate to the 
>Internet.  Thus the RT130 had to be physically 
>power cycled after I installed a directional 
>antenna vs an Omni to obtain a more robust 
>signal from one cell tower instead of 2 or more 
>which the Omni appeared to be jumping around.
>
>Mark
>
>
>At 07:54 12/2/2011, Philip Crotwell wrote:
>
>Hi all
>
>We use raven-x cell modems on both verizon and at&t and have noticed
>that often a large percentage of the stations will go offline shortly
>after midnight on the first of the month. Not always, and not exactly
>at midnight, but usually between midnight and 2am. Usually the
>stations come back after our daily cell modem power cycle. It seems to
>happen more often with Verizon, but has also happened with AT&T. Tech
>support is as usual completely useless as they suggest "turn off the
>power and turn it back on again" and seem very surprised when I tell
>them I can't.
>
>Has anyone else seen this odd behavior? Any words of advice?
>
>thanks,
>Philip
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>*********************************************************
>Mark E. Meremonte         Geophysicist    Eq_Effects/NEIC
>
>U.S. Geological Survey:  Geologic Hazards Science Center
>  Denver Federal Center         Work: 303-273-8670   Cell: 303-478-5766
>MS 966, Box 25046                 Email: 
><mailto:meremonte at usgs.gov>meremonte at usgs.gov
>Denver, CO  80225                  Web: 
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