Maestro gigabit problems fixed

Wayne VK4ACN

Looks like this latest release has fixed the Maestro wired gigabit problems.  Now connecting my Maestro to a gigabit switch.  No fallovers, left it on overnight, not one packet lost.  No need to use the old 100mb switch.
Many thanks for the fix. 

73
Wayne

WX7Y

I have had trouble in the past with the 5.8 Gig Wireless but with this version it is much more stable and wireless networking now 5.8 works much much better then it used to with my Router, 2.4Gig Wireless also works better I have noticed and nether band drop down in quality and gradually get worse like it used to.

Thanks to the Guys at FLEX for finding the issues with the Networking bugs.

Bret
WX7Y

Martin AA6E

Sorry to rain on the parade, but I seem to still have Maestro network issues. Still evaluating.

Wayne VK4ACN

Wireless or wired? I havent tried wireless yet since update. Only wired.

Martin AA6E

Wired with Gbit switch, still shows non-zero error rate -- enough to rate 'poor' for a time.  With WiFi, things worked until my '6500 hung up.  It had to be rebooted.  But I haven't used the new system long enough to say how serious this is.

Martin AA6E

More experience now.  My WiFi seems to be more stable than it was previously.  Zero errors seen over a path of 3 or 4 feet, 2.4 or 5 GHz with an Asus RT-N66U router.   Gigabit Ethernet is still not solid however.  I see 0.2 - 0.4% error rates, bad enough to rate "poor" on Flex's scale fairly often.  On the bright side, I rarely observe a problem with Maestro's audio or display.

The Ethernet performance seems to be "path dependent".  It can depend on which box you power up first, etc.  If you get into an error-prone state, the system may never heal itself without power cycling -- so it seems. More fiddling with cables and different switches might improve things, who knows? But networks aren't supposed to be so fussy!

I haven't downgraded to 100 Mb/s Ether in my current setup, but this fixed things for me in the past. That would be the next step. A nuisance, because we actually use >100 Mb/s for PC operations at times.

Note added: Replacing my local Gigabit switch (DLink DGS-2205) with a 100 Mb/s switch (DLink DES-105) tames the Ethernet, as expected.  (0 dropouts for 395K packets and counting) Extra benefit: the '105 has a metal case and (amazingly) has a case ground **** connection.  With a bit of effort, I may run a separate 1000bT line from the PC back to the house router.

Paul, WB5AGF

(I'm trying not to start a news thread when there is an existing one that is applicable. I believe that this is a reasonable place to post this entry.)

Yesterday (31 May 2017) I had my Maestro connected and powered-up for the first time in a long while.

At first I ran into the problem in which the internal battery appeared to have discharged so far that the Maestro unit would not power-up. (Not the user-supplied battery that fits inside the rear cavity via the backside hatch but instead the battery which resides somewhere on the computer motherboard and which is not user-accessible.) Happily a procedure suggested by Dudley (I phoned Austin) worked and the Maestro 'woke-up '.

My intention was to leave the Maestro running overnight to give the internal battery time to recharge. I took the opportunity to work my way through several of the menus and noticed that the Maestro unit was reporting what looked to be a very erratic EtherNet connection (I use a wired configuration). I read some of the on-line comments in which others have previously reported on this subject and tried a few things to see if they made a difference.

My local computer network consists of a Netgear GigaBit switch providing local EtherNet connections for my computer (an HP z600 at present), FLEX 6500 radio and the Maestro; the switch also connects back to the FIOS router (used to be Verizon but now Frontier) which gives InterNet access via a fiber-optic terminal on the outside wall of my home.

Yesterday the Maestro 'Network ' screen showed occasional runs of a few packets being lost though it did not appear to noticeably affect performance.

Last night I turned almost all the equipment off (the Netgear switch remained on) but left AC power (coming from a UPS) on and the DC power supply connected to the Maestro so its internal battery would continue to recharge.

This morning I turned everything back on (including the Maestro and brought the radio connection on-line also) and since then the Maestro reports zero packets dropped with the total number now over 2 million.

Nothing has changed other than most of the equipment was turned-off last night; all the physical connections are exactly the same.

Why would there have been some dropped packets yesterday but none today ? (I wonder if there is a clock, somewhere inside the Maestro unit, which has drifted back to a more nearly correct frequency as the motherboard warmed-up ?)

- Paul, WB5AGF

Tim - W4TME

Why would there have been some dropped packets yesterday but none today?

Good question.  We are running the latest version of the Ethernet driver on the Maestro.  However, intermittently there are reports that when running on a gigabit Ethernet connection, the Maestro will sometimes experience a higher than normal rate of packet loss, especially after an initial boot up of the Maestro.  I suspect (this is not confirmed) that when the Maestro boots up, the gigabit Ethernet switch initiates its port auto-negotiation protocol before the Maestro's Ethernet interface is fully initialized (a timing issue). What results is the switch and the Maestro end up in a state where their port settings are not exactly the same resulting in intermittent packet loss. Imperical evidence indicates this behavior seems to be more prevalent with certain Ethernet switches and not others.

Rebooting the Maestro when this behavior is observed usually corrects this issue.  If it doesn't then there is a different type of network issue that needs investigation.  

As some people have noted, connecting the Maestro to an Ethernet port that is a 100BaseT mitigates this behavior.  Using a Maestro on a 100BaseT is perfectly fine, as this transmission speed is much less than what is needed for the Maestro to operate properly.

Doug - W3UB

The issue is definitely not resolved. Could very well be timing, but it seems like the fault would remain with the Maestro's Ethernet interface. If you want to reproduce it, just buy this inexpensive, yet popular switch. Keep in mind that purchasing a new 10/100 switch is not a good option, and they are not readily available new, at least not at a low cost. Gb switches have been the norm for a while.

https://www.amazon.com/TP-Link-Gigabit-Ethernet-Plastic-TL-SG1008D/dp/B001EVGIYG/