X-Surf 100 refuses to connect

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Don't Panic. Please wash hands.
  • Hi, I have an X-Surf 100 (with RapidRoad USB module) installed in my A4000D. The card was working flawlessly for two years, till one day that refused to connect to the internet since then (no alteration to any settings took place); although the USB ports are working. I have attached some photos taken from my A4000.


    Is X-Surf's chip fried somehow? Is there anything I can do more before considering the repair option?


    Thanks in advance.

  • I'm not familiar with Roadshow - testing the hardware should happen on a much lower level. There's the hardware test program for the X-Surf-100, please run that after launching the system without startup-sequence.

  • It's in one of the download archives - other customers have found it. Please understand that I'm too busy to look for it now - it's there, for sure.

  • OK, the Z3 interface working OK was already confirmed with USB working. The Ethernet chip responds with correct MAC address, so that part is also still OK. Memory test being OK confirms that the digital part of the Ethernet chip is working.


    If your cables are OK and the port on your switch/hub is known-good, we'll have to take a look at the card here. Oh, and judging from the MAC address, the card must be much older than 2 years - it should be almost 4 years, at least from shipping to your reseller, who is known not to keep too much stock :-)


    Has there been any incident worth noting, such as a lightning strike near your building? That would make our diagnosis a bit faster.

  • Hi Jens, cables and ports on my router are double-checked (switched to all available ports). I forgot to mention, and thanks to bringing it to my attention, we had a very bad weather with many lightnings in the area before that, and although I always unplug the ethernet cable from every card every time we have bad weather, this time I forgot to do it so. Actually, I'm guessing that's the problem.

  • I've done quite a few designs that had to pass all the extra tests for telecoms (ADSL2+ and VDSL designs), where lots of extra rules apply. During that work, I've learned a lot about the magnetic fields that are induced even into cables that don't go outside and that are 2km away from the point where lightning hits the ground (like the cables inside a house).


    There's many rules that can be summarized with "a static discharge zap must not lead to damage and requires the equipment to recover from malfunction without human interaction". However, for lightning there's only the general headline to limit permanent damage to the part of the design that is exposed to cables. This appears to have worked well in your case: The Z3 interface and the local fast 16-bit bus is still working, but the Ethernet PHY appears to be damaged.


    So yes, detaching cables during a thunderstorm is a good idea, but not always practical. If you have fixed wiring (such as iComp's all-CAT-7 wiring through the whole building), you don't want to unplug almost 100 connectors spread over three floors. Instead, you just keep spare networking cards and switches (which reminds me of buying a new 48-port switch, as we've been running on the spare one for over two years now).


    Long story short: Please send the unit directly to us, include a short error description as mentioned in this article, and also check if your insurance covers defects like this - you may get (at least part of) the repair cost back from an insurance of building and/or household insurance.

  • I see. At least is it possible to inform me how much will be the repair costs approximately as the card is not under warranty anymore (card bought in February 2017)? Just asking, because if the costs are high enough, I'd rather buy a new one from your shop as they are still available for purchase.

  • I can never tell from a distance, but if it's just the PHY and nothing else, we're talking about roughly 40,- EUR plus tax and shipping. Not sure how tax is handled in your case - you bought from a British reseller, but I don't know if you live on that island that used to be part of the EU.


    In any case, we generally attempt a repair before recommending to buy anything new, and you won't pay anything for an unsuccessful repair.


    One thing we need to find out first is if shipping is possible. So far, neither DHL nor Parcel One will ship to the UK or Ireland.

  • I live in Greece and I received packages with DHL from Germany the previous month, so it should not be a problem. Will send the card this week registered with tracking number. Would you like to know the tracking number as well?

  • Greece is really no problem. We won't need the tracking number - just follow the hints in the linked article, so the staff unpacking your parcel won't have to dig for information.

  • The last reply was more than 365 days ago, this thread is most likely obsolete. It is recommended to create a new thread instead.