Can't enable port POE on switch - long DC cable-run

[Travis_WVN]

We have a WS-12-250-DC at the top of a tower, roughly 120ft of MC cable (armored, 10ga stranded) feeding it. 60v, 150W power supply at bottom - Powerstream PST-SP48-150.


I read 57v at the top with good current. The switch powers up fine, but won't enable POE on the ports with or without radios connected, although the interface reads that it's accepted the changes, and power consumption rises a few watts. It also resets to defaults every time the power is cut and reapplied.

Any ideas what's going on? Not enough supply?
Thanks!

[sirhc]

What does the log say?

Post up the log (please format it)

[Travis_WVN]

Dec 31 19:00:59 syslogd started: BusyBox v1.19.4
Dec 31 19:01:01 sysinit: shellinaboxd is already running
Dec 31 19:01:01 sysinit: 1295
Dec 31 19:02:07 UI: Configuration changed by 192.168.1.2
Dec 31 19:02:07 UI: Port 1 PoE: changed from 'Off' to '24VH'
Dec 31 19:02:26 sysinit: chown: unknown user root
Dec 31 19:02:26 dropbear[1516]: Running in background

Switch resets to defaults each time power is cut and applies.
When I enable port 1 power, the port shows a few watts, 1-2 perhaps. Port light never starts blinking, and radio never receives power.
All ports show similar behaviour. Switch itself seems to function fine as far as non-POE, just no power.

[Travis_WVN]

This is on 1.3.3 btw.

[sirhc]

Did you test the switch before you put it up in the air?

The only thing I can think is your power supply does not like to power devices on such a long run of cable.

You could try powering the switch with 2 batteries in series to get 24V but a lot more AMPs

[Travis_WVN]

Hey Chris, thanks for quick reply!

I didn't test it on that run before putting it up, but a 2nd WS-12-DC works just fine up there. I have this one back at the office on a 10ft length of 10guage off a bench power supply, and it's showing same behavior.

[sirhc]

So you say it boots and you can log into it but when you try and turn POE on port 1 it reboots to defaults.

1) Verify all ports link up to your laptop with POE OFF

2) Turn on 24V poe on each port one at a time and test with say a NanoStation

3) Turn on 48V poe on each port one at a time and test with say an IP Phone or Camera that uses 48V

4) Turn on 24VH poe on ports 1-4 one at a time and test with say a AF5X

5) Turn on 48VH poe on ports 1-4 one at a time and test with say a AF5 or AF24

Note any behavior that fails and report back.

[Travis_WVN]

Hi Chris,

All ports work fine when connected to a laptop, I can pass traffic and manage the switch.
No POE works on any of the ports, at any voltage. Have hooked up several 24v nanobridges, a 48v Rocket Ti, a 48V IP phone and a 50v Airfiber-5 that I've tried with. No juice.

Loaded the latest 1.3.6 that you just posted, the usage bar is a nice touch.
Now with that, the log reports that POE is activated, and the overall power usage of the switch rises, but the individual ports don't reflect it.

If you want, at some point I can stick this on a public IP for investigating.

[sirhc]

At this point I would suggest you email me at chris@netonix.com and request and RMA

[Travis_WVN]

Okay will do, thanks Chris - need to order some more gear anyway :)