u n w i r i n g o u r w o r l d TM

Nexus Troubleshooting Guide

Dear Valued Customer,

Thank you for using our products to solve your wireless connectivity needs. We, at smartBridges Technical
Support Center, offer comprehensive support and guidance for the products you purchase from us. This
Troubleshooting Guide allows you to do a first phase of troubleshooting on any of the smartBridges Nexus
products.

As any problem encountered could be due to numerous reasons, please consult this Troubleshooting Guide to
see if the solution is already explained here. You can also refer to our FAQs, User Guide, Quick Installation
Guide, and Application Notes for additional help and information.

Before proceeding to troubleshoot, please ensure that the Nexus units are installed with the latest firmware.
You can download these documents and the latest firmware from our Support Center website at
www.smartbridges.com/support/index.asp

If you need further assistance, please email us at support@smartbridges.com with a full description of the
problem and a detailed network diagram.

Thank you for your support and patience. We look forward to being of help.

Yours sincerely,

smartBridges Technical Support

www.smartbridges.com

Other Useful Links

Link Analysis Calculator

http://www.smartbridges.com/tools/nexus_linktest_calc.html

Nexus Discovery Tool

http://www.smartbridges.com/tech_support/tools/NexusDeviceDiscoveryTool1.9_Setup.exe

Nexus Troubleshooting Log File

http://<device_IP_address>/def.log.txt

Product Information and Technical Brochures

http://www.smartbridges.com/products/index.asp

Distributor / Reseller Information

http://www.smartbridges.com/sales/locator.asp

745 Toa Payoh Lorong 5, #04-01, Singapore 319455 Tel: +65 6253 0100 Fax: +65 6353 5564
Email: support@smartbridges.com
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Problem 1: Unable to access or login to the unit.

Step 1: Power up the unit using the supplied Power Adaptor and PoE as shown in the Quick Installation Guide.

Step 2: Connect the computer on the PoE units Ethernet port and ping the device IP address. (Please ensure
that the IP setting of the computer and the unit is on the same IP subnet).

A. If you are able to get the ping response from the unit, please open the web browser and enter
http://<device_IP_address> . When prompted, login with the correct Username and Password.

B. If you are unable to ping the unit, please verify the Ethernet cable and connection. Alternatively,
power cycle the unit and try to ping the unit. If you are still unable to ping, please go to C.

C. Power up the unit using another PoE and connect to another Ethernet port of the unit.

Step 3: Please restore the unit to factory default settings by pressing and holding the reset button on the PoE
Injector for 20 seconds and then try to access the unit at the default device IP address.

Note: You may use the Nexus Device Discovery Tool which can be obtained at
http://www.smartbridges.com/tech_support/tools/NexusDeviceDiscoveryTool1.9_Setup.exe to assist you.

Problem 2: Low throughput / high latency

Step 1: Please use the GUIs Link Test utility to check the throughput and ping response on wireless.

Step 2: Please connect a computer to both ends of the radio and measure the ping response time and
throughput with tools like Iperf, Qcheck, FTP, etc.

Step 3: If you encounter low throughput or high latency, please try the suggestions below to fine tune the link:

a. Re-align the antenna and ensure that the RSSI is better than -70dBm.

b. Avoid interference by ensuring it is configured to use non-overlapping channels. Use the Site
Survey Tool to check what other channels are being used.

c. Ensure that the duplex and speed on the switch port or computer is set properly. For
throughput values larger than 7 Mbps, ensure that the Ethernet Port speed is 100Mbps.

d. Enable the RTS/CTS to 256, 512 or 1024 and monitor.

e. Change the Throughput Optimizer value to 2 or 4 or 8 on both the radios and measure the
throughput.

f. Turn compression mode to ON if it is a point-to-point link.

g. Set the appropriate Output Power as required. Too much power can saturate the amplifier
and degrade the throughput.

745 Toa Payoh Lorong 5, #04-01, Singapore 319455 Tel: +65 6253 0100 Fax: +65 6353 5564
Email: support@smartbridges.com
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Step 4: If the end-to-end link test is not as good as the GUIs Link Test, please check or change the Ethernet
cable and the Ethernet Port.

Problem 3: Unable to detect the Far-end Radio & unable to associate.

Step 1: Please check the below and try associate.

a. Estimate the range of the link and use the Link Budget Calculator to check the necessary
EIRP required and fade margin.

b. In case the link is longer than 15 km, increase the Dial-a-Power on the Nexus units to +23
dBm setting.

c. Check the antenna cable and connection. Make sure that the antenna feed cable is
connected to the correct port of the Nexus, i.e., either the Low Band or High Band port
corresponding to your configured channel.

d. Make sure the link is a clear Line of Sight.

e. Make sure the link has a clear Fresnel Zone. If not, increase the height of the antenna. The
Fresnel Zone can be calculated as shown in the picture below or by using the Link Budget
Calculator available in the GUI.

Step 2: Please verify the settings such as the Output power and ensure that it meets the desired RSSI value.

Step 3: Ensure that the channel settings is the same on both ends. You may try using a different channel.

745 Toa Payoh Lorong 5, #04-01, Singapore 319455 Tel: +65 6253 0100 Fax: +65 6353 5564
Email: support@smartbridges.com
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Step 4: If it is a Bridge (WDS) link, verify the Radios MAC address entry on both the device.

Step 5: Ensure the below settings are configured properly on both the units.

a. Radio Operating mode

b. RSSI threshold (set as -90dbm for the start)

c. Security settings

Step 6: Check the Site Survey table again by refreshing the page after a few minutes as it would take some
time to pick up the signal.

Step 7: If you able to detect the desired Radio SSID but unable to associate, please disable WEP or any
security setting at both ends and try to associate again.

Step 8: Read out the RSSI at both the terminals. Both the RSSI values should be within 5 dB and they should
match the value according to the Link Calculator by within +5 dB.

Step 9: If the RSSI is significantly different on both the units, either the TX or the RX of the other unit is faulty.

Step 8: Please power cycle the units and observe.

Step 9: In case the problem still persists, remove the antenna and use a different pair of antennas on both the
sites with proper alignment.

Problem 4: Link disassociation after few hours of operations

Step 1: Please ensure that the units are installed with the latest firmware.

Step 2: The link drop might happen due to a sudden drop in signal strength (RSSI level), so please monitor the
link graph.

Step 3: Please change the channel or frequency band especially if the current channel is one of the DFS
channels. Please monitor the noise floor as well for any interference.

Step 4: You may like to suspend the WatchGuard under System configuration page. Observe for any problems
during this 2 hours period as the WatchGuard feature will automatically restart after 2 hours.

Step 5: Please restore the unit to factory settings and reconfigure and monitor.

Step 6: For testing purposes, please set the Delay Reset Timer to reset the device daily in the early morning
when traffic is low.

Step 7: Please capture the Log from the unit using the hidden link http://<device_IP_Address>def.log.txt and
email it to sB Technical Support for further analysis.

745 Toa Payoh Lorong 5, #04-01, Singapore 319455 Tel: +65 6253 0100 Fax: +65 6353 5564
Email: support@smartbridges.com
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Problem 5: Unable to upgrade the firmware

Step 1: Before proceeding to upgrade the firmware, please do a continuous ping to the unit to ensure the link
stability and power cycle the unit if necessary.

Step 2: If you have difficulty in upgrading the firmware wirelessly, then it might be due to heavy traffic or other
link related issues. In this case, please connect the computer directly on the Ethernet side of the unit to upgrade
the firmware.

Step 3: If you notice the error message Invalid tar file, please check whether your firmware is right for the
product. Contact smartBridges Technical Supports technical hotline if this problem persists.

Problem 6: Device goes into SafeMode

Step 1: Click Go to Normal mode and close the browser. Do a continuous ping to the devices IP address.
When the ping responds, launch the web browser to login to the GUI.

Step 2: If you are unable to recover the device in step 1, please do a firmware upgrade.

Step 3: If you notice the error message Invalid tar file appears, please check whether your firmware is right for
the product. Contact smartBridges Technical Supports technical hotline if this problem persists.

Problem 7: Unit is rebooting every few minutes and unable to access

Step 1: Please connect the computer directly to the unit and do a continuous ping. Observe the LED function,
as it will help to confirm whether the unit is rebooting.

Step 2: Please restore the unit to factory settings and monitor.

Step 3: Change the PoE and Ethernet cable when necessary.

Step 4: If the above steps do not help, the device remains unreachable and the LED blinks continuously, the
unit may be defective and require RMA.

Problem 8: Suspect low output power (Bench Testing)

Step 1: Connect 2.2 dB omnidirectional antennas to both the units at the correct port and place them 5 meters
apart.

Step 2: Set the TX power to 10 dBm on both the units and get them to associate.

Step 3: After the association, wait for 2 minutes and check the RSSI for both the units.

745 Toa Payoh Lorong 5, #04-01, Singapore 319455 Tel: +65 6253 0100 Fax: +65 6353 5564
Email: support@smartbridges.com
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Step 4: If the RSSI is more than -55 dBm, then both the units are fine.

Step 5: In case the RSSI is low on one of the units, check the TX power of the other unit.

If you are still unable to resolve the problem by any of the methods suggested above, please contact
your Distributor / Reseller for first level support. If you still need further assistance, you can contact us
at smartBridges Technical Support at:

Email: support@smartbridges.com

Technical Support Hotline: +1 630 566 5233 (USA) or + 65 6253 0100 (Singapore) and choose option 2.

745 Toa Payoh Lorong 5, #04-01, Singapore 319455 Tel: +65 6253 0100 Fax: +65 6353 5564
Email: support@smartbridges.com