KR1 - Extremely Problematic - Unusable

Dwayne

Greetings,

I've been reading EVDOForums.com forums for quite some time. I appreciate how much effort everyone puts into peer support for EVDO solutions. I don't know that anyone will have a solution to my dilema, but I look forward to any advice that you can give.

Variables:
EVDO Card: Sierra Aircard 580
ISP: Sprint
Router: Original w/ 1002, Replacement w/ 1002, 1006

Problem:
I originally purchased a KR1 in late June. I followed all directions. I configured the device over a wired connection. I never installed or removed the EVDO card while the device was powered on. The device configured very easily. However, after the initial reset (at the end of configuration) the device was completely unresponsive - both over WiFi or wired connection. I couldn't get to the config screen, etc. I performed a hard reset and started over. The device was then OK . . . so it seemed.

I had performed the following when configuring the device:
- Changed the WiFi SSID
- Enabled WPA encryption and provided a key.

I initially was unable to connect over WiFi. The device worked fine with a wired connection. I reset the device multiple times and re-configured it. I still couldn't connect over WiFi. I then disabled WPA to see if it made a difference. No difference. I repeated all troubleshooting with 4 laptops and 2 different EVDO cards to verify the problem was consistent. In all, I was able to connect to the device over WiFi maybe 4 times, and the performance was literally unusable. I called tech support. They walked me through some very basic steps and then agreed to replace it. Sent the old one off. Received the new one.

I attempted the same thing with the new one. Same problem occured. I then reset to the default out of the box settings. The device *DID* allow me to connect over WiFi with the default configuration. But once I changed the SSID and set the WPA encryption, the problem came back. I (again) removed the WPA encryption and it was still problematic. Then I reset the SSID back to "KR1". It then allowed me to connect. I re-enabled WPA and it still connected. I then changed the SSID to various things and then back to KR1. The problem appeared and disappeared every time I changed the SSID to something different, and then changed it back. So, the only conclusion I could reach is that there is a bug in the firmware that caused problems when KR1 was not used as the SSID.

I sort-of left it alone and only used the device a couple of times, because I didn't trust it. Instead, I used ICS on a laptop. Then when the new 1006 firmware came out, I switched - seeing improved WiFi stability as one of the improvements listed from Kyocera's site. Device was far worse. I couldn't maintain a WiFi connection at all. I ended up rolling back to 1002. The device is still unreliable. Sometimes I can connect, sometimes I can't. When I try and it won't connect, I have to hard reset it without the EVDO card in it. Then shut it down, install the card, and then I can usually connect OK. Once I power down the router, I have to repeat the same process to connect again.

Whenever I can't connect, I get a bunch of WiFi errors in the KR1's logs. The laptops try to connect, but time-out. They just hang and never receive an IP address. If you look on the router, you will see that the laptops *ARE* associated in the router. As far as the router knows, the laptops connected and were issued IP addresses. But the behavior of the laptops are consistent regardless of laptop model, WiFi card / adapter model, and operating system.

I have to admit that I am really dissapointed in the quality of this device. The fact the device is failing on the WiFi side is surprising. I would have thought that the EVDO card side would be the problematic side of the device because D-Link has plenty of experience designing WiFi devices. But the problem with this device has ALWAYS been on the WiFi side. It always works when connected via one of the Ethernet ports.

If you have any advice, please forward it. If not, thanks for listening to my woes. Smile

Dwayne

Dwayne · Posted: Thu Aug 17, 2006 4:43 pm Post subject: Replaced with Top Global MB6000

A couple of people e-mailed me off-list about similar issues. For those of you following this thread, I just wanted to update and say that I got a Top Global MB6000. It is well worth the extra money. It has worked flawlessly so far.

I only have two complaints so far:

(1) The pyramid shape is not conducive to carrying it with you
in a laptop bag.

(2) There is no Dynamic DNS client built-in. Hopefully this will
be added with a firmware update.

And if I could add one more feature (oter than Dynamic DNS) it would be a native VPN client in the router. That way you could create the VPN connection from the router itself and not have the overhead from each laptop creating a separate tunnel using VPN pass-through.

Overall, I'm very pleased though. Still working on how to carry it with me. Smile

Dwayne

tz1 · Posted: Sun Aug 20, 2006 6:38 am Post subject:

Mine works find and for the past week has been the bypass for people with their own personal laptops (the corporation says thou shalt not attach foreign computers to our network).

First, what firmware revision, and you should upgrade to the latest.

My suspicion is that your laptop (or set) might be on an interfering frequency, or there is a conflicting SSID. It is also possible there is a problem with the wifi configuration or software on the other end. Depending on card, driver, etc. I've seen every operating system refuse to change a connection even when it looks like it did.

rr0123 · EVDO User Joined: 08 Nov 2005 Posts: 30

I have a couple of KR1s, the first still has the original firmware and has been flawless with a V620 or Samsun A900. I recently got another KR1 and immediately had stability issues that sound similar to yours (although not exact), but these were fully resolved with the firmware upgrade.

Maybe give the firmware upgrade another try?

BP-isMe · Posted: Thu Aug 24, 2006 10:28 am Post subject: WiFi Errors?

What WiFi errors are you seeing in the log.

I have a KR1 that will not get along with My EVDO card. It shows endless "WiFi Reset" errors in the log. I have an approved EVDO card and have tried swapping the Router and the EVDO card to no avail. Maybe it's my environment.

I resorted to using a D-Link Pocket Router to provide the WiFi. It's too bad the KR1 has this issue but the work-around is very reliable and not too painful for me.

Good Luck...Brad

Scott

Scott