Whisper Cabinet - Battery Backup

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datahawk

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#316000 7-Sep-2024 12:02

I operate my business from a lifestyle block with two separate VDSL2 and landline connections (with a reasonable 112/28 service considering that no fibre is planned yet for our area) along with an automatic standby generator to ensure my servers stay up during any power outages.

Yesterday we had a scheduled 9am-5pm power outage for Vector line maintenance.

Unusually, our local VDSL2 cabinet also died immediately with the power cut. In the past, the cabinet battery backup has kept the landline and broadband alive for at least 24-36 hours.

Has the copper cabinet battery backup been discontinued or should this still be fully operational?

If anyone close to Chorus confirms that this is a backup fault, any advice on how to report it would be most appreciated.

Thanks.

atomeara

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#3279874 8-Sep-2024 11:32

I am not aware of anything official from Chorus

But from talking to multiple techs, there not proactively managing, replacing or testing copper cabinet batteries.

Depending how good your ISP is, you could ask them to reach out to Chorus around it and see if they can be tested and replaced.

Your mileage will very much vary on the ISP support, if you end up talking to an off shore call centre for your ISP I wouldn't hold your breath.

I have issues with the Fibre cabinet at Piha not coming back after power outages and needing a tech to out and turn the breaker back on, which I have raised with Chorus.

datahawk

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#3280191 9-Sep-2024 10:10

Thanks for your feedback.

I had suspected that this probably was the case with the cabinet backup failure because support for copper services are declining rapidly.

However, because we are unlikely to be getting fibre in this area in the near future I will try to get a fault lodged with Chorus to hopefully have the battery backup restored/repaired for future power outages.

The loss of both VDSL lines and phones during longer power outages is quite frustrating when I have spent a lot of time and money in the past to keep my business systems online with UPS and generator backup.

To be fair, the Whisper cabinet battery system has been an excellent reliable service in the past during major storm power outages that have lasted longer than 24 hours.

Particular cabinet info F.Y.I....

RDB/AF
1746317,5940026
Whisper Cabinet (Double Bay)
Alternate ID = 10RDB2C

nztim

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#3280195 9-Sep-2024 10:14

if you get the cabinet number XX/X or XXX/X maybe @bmarquis could tell you what battery backup is in that cabinet

Even it does have battery backup when were they last checked?

Any views expressed on these forums are my own and don't necessarily reflect those of my employer.

datahawk

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#3280198 9-Sep-2024 10:20

Great thanks.

I'm looking for the latest info on the cabinet ID numbers but in the meantime it's located on the corner of Blackbridge Road and Dairy Flat Highway. (Albany/Dairy Flat, Auckland)

It's connected to the Red Beach exchange.

Jase2985

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#3280201 9-Sep-2024 10:34

look to be RDB/AF

Ge0rge

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#3280203 9-Sep-2024 10:37

Jase2985:

look to be RDB/AF

Sure does :)

datahawk:

Particular cabinet info F.Y.I....

RDB/AF
1746317,5940026
Whisper Cabinet (Double Bay)
Alternate ID = 10RDB2C

Dell

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BMarquis

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#3280266 9-Sep-2024 11:46

Hi all,

I can't check it or do much here other than pass it on to the operations team.

The batteries should still be there and operational (unless they have been stolen).
The operations team are going to get the battery performance of that cabinet checked and if there is a problem, figure out how it wasn't noticed.

Thanks for bringing it to our attention!

datahawk

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#3280276 9-Sep-2024 12:12

Thank you. I appreciate your assistance.

It was unusual to notice that the cabinet died immediately with the latest outage. As noted earlier, it has been very reliable in the past.

One of the longest power outages we have had was during the Feb-2023 cyclone/storm where our generator operated for around 44 hours while lines were down.

I was pleasantly surprised to note that the cabinet stayed online for more than 24 hours before the batteries finally died. The local Vodafone battery backup in the cell tower also died around the same time or shortly after.

Thanks again.

nztim

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#3280443 9-Sep-2024 15:56

Jase2985:

look to be RDB/AF

lol yeah, I hit reply, and he posted again before I had finished posting :)

Any views expressed on these forums are my own and don't necessarily reflect those of my employer.

timmmay

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#3280535 9-Sep-2024 20:19

If your business must be available suggest you consider using a data center or co-lo for hosting. IMHO there's too many things that could go wrong hosting your own systems somewhere rural.

raytaylor

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#3285722 24-Sep-2024 11:42

@BMarquis
Perhaps a question you could also ask is if the cabinet has a generator input or a male power connector on the outside.
I know some of the rural CMAR cabinets have them and local farmers were given generators and trained by telecom how to power them up.

@datahawk might be willing to daisy chain some extension leads down to it in the case of a long power outage. He certainly cant be far away with a good sync speed like that.

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datahawk

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#3285780 24-Sep-2024 12:25

I did study the specifications of the Whisper cabinets a couple of years ago and noted that they usually do have an external portable generator socket available for long term power outages.

Sadly, we are located on the other side of a main road from the cabinet location so it is not practical to run any type of extension lead to supply external power.

I also considered contacting Chorus after the last major cyclone outage in Auckland, where power was out for days, to offer my services to keep the cabinet alive for our community, even if it required me taking a portable generator to the cabinet.

This idea, of course, would required the right approvals and gear not to mention the fact that some low life would probably steal the generator within a short time frame. :)

boosacnoodle

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#3285820 24-Sep-2024 14:20

raytaylor:

@BMarquis
Perhaps a question you could also ask is if the cabinet has a generator input or a male power connector on the outside.
I know some of the rural CMAR cabinets have them and local farmers were given generators and trained by telecom how to power them up.

@datahawk might be willing to daisy chain some extension leads down to it in the case of a long power outage. He certainly cant be far away with a good sync speed like that.

Interestingly CMAR is end-of-life and will be switched off on 31 March 2025.