Spark is dropping M2M connections - is this affecting you too?

Forums › Spark New Zealand (including Skinny and BigPipe) › Spark is dropping M2M connections - is this affecting you too?

elpenguino

3392 posts

Uber Geek

#303423 9-Feb-2023 10:57

Spark seems to have an issue which drops M2M connections and doesn't allow them to be re-established.

It started off with one modem , then it affected half a dozen. Two more have gone down overnight. The rot is spreading !

The first modem was brought back to base and 'just worked' so it's not a modem issue.

Does this issue affect you too?

Most of the posters in this thread are just like chimpanzees on MDMA, full of feelings of bonhomie, joy, and optimism. Fred99 8/4/21

Linux

11304 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#3033882 9-Feb-2023 11:01

Are they in one part of the country or spread across NZ?

wellygary

8272 posts

Uber Geek

#3033897 9-Feb-2023 11:43

PSTN transition to VOIP??

elpenguino

3392 posts

Uber Geek

#3033904 9-Feb-2023 12:05

They're previously stable connections, all over the country and they're data only (M2M) connections so nothing to do with VOIP or PSTN.

Most of the posters in this thread are just like chimpanzees on MDMA, full of feelings of bonhomie, joy, and optimism. Fred99 8/4/21

Kookoo

784 posts

Ultimate Geek

Trusted

#3033909 9-Feb-2023 12:26

Check your DM

Hello, Ground!

elpenguino

3392 posts

Uber Geek

#3036396 14-Feb-2023 13:51

Thanks to the various Spark peeps who offered interest and support.

Spark investigators found out the modems were told to drop off the network due to a bug in the 'session controller'.

The modems wont come back online without a visit so we're up for a lot of man hours and travel expenses to get 12 or so modems back online from Invercargill to Auckland.

Still, it's a chance to fix up some other things while on the road.

Most of the posters in this thread are just like chimpanzees on MDMA, full of feelings of bonhomie, joy, and optimism. Fred99 8/4/21

Wellingtondave

156 posts

Master Geek

#3036429 14-Feb-2023 15:04

elpenguino:

Thanks to the various Spark peeps who offered interest and support.

Spark investigators found out the modems were told to drop off the network due to a bug in the 'session controller'.

The modems wont come back online without a visit so we're up for a lot of man hours and travel expenses to get 12 or so modems back online from Invercargill to Auckland.

Still, it's a chance to fix up some other things while on the road.

Having also learnt that the hard way previously with hundred(s) of sites from top of the north to bottom of the south, on various communications methods, consider having an out of band reboot device on sites that someone can't get to promptly.

elpenguino

3392 posts

Uber Geek

#3036437 14-Feb-2023 15:39

Wellingtondave:

elpenguino:

Thanks to the various Spark peeps who offered interest and support.

Spark investigators found out the modems were told to drop off the network due to a bug in the 'session controller'.

The modems wont come back online without a visit so we're up for a lot of man hours and travel expenses to get 12 or so modems back online from Invercargill to Auckland.

Still, it's a chance to fix up some other things while on the road.

Having also learnt that the hard way previously with hundred(s) of sites from top of the north to bottom of the south, on various communications methods, consider having an out of band reboot device on sites that someone can't get to promptly.

We have those. The commands sent to the modems (by Spark) have messed them up so thoroughly that a simple reboot is not enough to get them going again.

If it wasn't for diverse comms using another carrier, we and our customers would have been screaming.

Most of the posters in this thread are just like chimpanzees on MDMA, full of feelings of bonhomie, joy, and optimism. Fred99 8/4/21

Hatch

Trade NZ and US shares and funds with Hatch (affiliate link).

jaidevp

331 posts

Ultimate Geek

Trusted

Spark NZ

#3037641 16-Feb-2023 14:23

elpenguino:

Thanks to the various Spark peeps who offered interest and support.

Spark investigators found out the modems were told to drop off the network due to a bug in the 'session controller'.

The modems wont come back online without a visit so we're up for a lot of man hours and travel expenses to get 12 or so modems back online from Invercargill to Auckland.

Still, it's a chance to fix up some other things while on the road.

Hi when sessions are dropped, (can drop for various reasons, in this case a network element had an issue so traffic was switched to alternate elements) end devices such as cellular modems/routers should re-attach to the network. A majority re-attach fine and start using new routes. Some devices which are deployed without recovery mechanisms such as watchdog etc may have difficulty reacquiring the network, without knowing what cellular module/devices you operate I can't comment further. Feel free to DM me with an example device/sim you are still experiencing an issue with.

jaidevp

331 posts

Ultimate Geek

Trusted

Spark NZ

#3037643 16-Feb-2023 14:30

elpenguino:

We have those. The commands sent to the modems (by Spark) have messed them up so thoroughly that a simple reboot is not enough to get them going again.

If it wasn't for diverse comms using another carrier, we and our customers would have been screaming.

We don't specifically send commands to modems/devices that operate on our M2M/ IoT networks, a restart of the cellular connection should cause the device to re-attach to the network. Devices should obey standard 3GPP standards and re-attach to the network.