Wireless Access

I've had a about a 5% failure rate for two batches of AP-315 that I purchased in late 2017 and early 2018. I'm hoping it was just a temporary production issue rather than a design problem, but I haven't really had much useful data on it from HP/Aruba. (They are very good about sending out replacement units, but I'd like to know the scale of the issue.)

 

Apparently the problem is the ethernet jack (en0) snaps off the motherboard. I'm assuming its cold solder or something, but I've never opened the AP to look at it.

 

In my most recent example, the new-from-the-box AP was fine when I configured it on my desk, and fine when I first plugged it in out in the field, but as I snapped it onto the plastic T-rail mounting clip, both LEDs blinked out, and the AP was dead. It would no longer power up from POE, and when I connected it to a power adapter and used the console cable, I could see it boot, but then never get a DHCP address on en0.

 

These symptoms are consistent with the Ethernet jack being physically disconnected from the motherboard. (That's the anaylsis that support gave me after I RMA'd my 5th one and explicitly asked what was going on!)

 

So, with this AP, just the minor "snap" of clicking the AP into its bracket was enough to break loose the port.

 

Anyway, anyone else having excessive failures of AP-315?

 

I'm hoping it is a production problem and has been resolved, but again, no answers from HP/Aruba. Except for the fragile ports, seems a good AP.

 

Cheers,

Steve

Steve,

Let me start by apologizing for the fact that you did not get any answers from Aruba on this. That is not how we should treat our customers.

You're correct in that we've had a weakness in our original hardware design for the 310 Series Access Points, resulting in failures of the Ethernet port.

The actual strength and resulting failure rate varies by production batch. Some products are fine, while others easily fail. Overall failure rate of the 310 Series as a result of this issue is still quite low, but some product batches (and customers) are more seriously affected.

The problem has long been solved (about a year ago), but an unknown number of units in the field are affected and may fail.

The problem is obviously covered by our lifetime warranty, and any failing units will be replaced.

/Onno Harms

Product Management, Aruba WLAN

Some additional detail FYI: the problem is caused by a combination of (1) the use of a surface mounted RJ45 receptacle instead of through-hole, (2) amount of solder used, and (3) tolerance variations in the mechanical design (features securing the receptacle).

Great! Thanks for the report, good to have the background. I wish they'd told me this when I returned my first batch of four failures!  (As noted, they were quickly replaced under warranty.)

 

But, no one shared any info, even when I explicitly asked if it was a known issue and if it had been resolved. 

Hi,

we have the same issues. We ordered approx. 700 IAP 315 in 2017/2018. One of our sales houses got closed in december and now I have 8(of 12) access points on my desk with loose or broken ethernet ports.

I hope they will be replaced. I will open a case now.

 

Yes, all of ours were replaced under warranty, no issues. Also, our sales
rep eventually found out that this had been a manufacturing issue for a
short while only, and the issue was resolved. Thus, our later purchases of
AP-315s did not show the problem.

Steve Bohrer (he, him, his)IT Infrastructure, Emerson College
617-824-8523