Re: Engenius/Senao AP/Bridge - any comments?

At 11:15 AM 5/9/2004, DaveC <[email protected]> wrote:
>I'm interested in the Engenius/Senao SL-2611 200mW AP/multi-client/Bridge box. Don't know much about it. Has anyone done a review of this? Personal experiences to share? Where is it available to buy?

I posted here in early April as I searched for replacements for 
Cisco WGB-352 workgroup (8 MAC max) bridges. 

I just gambled on six Senao / Engenius NL-2611 CB3+ Deluxe 
from www.bizsyscon.com.  

Official site:
http://www.senao.com/english/product/product_wireless01_outdoor_1.asp?tp1id=02&tp2id=02&proid=000064

After only a few hours of study:

Pro: 

Cheap.  Only $740 shipped for six, or $123 each.

Seemingly high power.  Works as a bridge to a Cisco AP-352,
works as a bridge to another Senao in 'point to point' mode.

One RP-TNC antenna connector, just like Cisco WGB.  

PDF manual isn't bad compared to many.

Con: 

I want to watch throughput with MRTG, but haven't found any SNMP
(as the 2511 seemed to have) nor are there enough useful values 
in the web interface that a little scripting might snarf.  All you
get in the web interface is link quality percentage, current
transmission rate, and a table of known MACs on the bridge.

Wants a cross-over cable to connect to a PC.  Plus: It comes 
with a 6 foot red snagfree crossover cable.  Wish it wanted 
straight-through like a WGB-352, or had a cross-or-not switch 
like the WET-11.

The firmware upgrades are somewhat crude: you need to edit the 
'do.bat' file so 'tftp' (not included) knows your IP address.

I tried upgrading the firmware from 1.8.0 to the 1.9.0 (3/5/2004)
on Senao's site, but I couldn't get it to take, so I don't know 
what I'm doing wrong or what might be in the new release.  
'do.bat' sends 'dualmode_sp.bin' 259K, but there's also 
'ap.elf' 438K that's not mentioned in 'do.bat'.  
Any tips would be appreciated. 

Tech support / downloads section on Senao's site is minimal,
and the firmware 'readme's - if any - are more brief than that.
Not much on http://www.engeniustech.com/ or Broadband Reports either.

- John

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