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

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#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?

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Linux

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#3033882 9-Feb-2023 11:01

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

wellygary

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#3033897 9-Feb-2023 11:43

PSTN transition to VOIP??

elpenguino

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#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.

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Kookoo

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#3033909 9-Feb-2023 12:26

Check your DM

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elpenguino

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#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.

Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit, Wisdom is knowing not to put it in fruit salad.

Wellingtondave

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#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.

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elpenguino

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#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.

Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit, Wisdom is knowing not to put it in fruit salad.

jaidevp

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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

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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.