Over the past 12 months I've purchased the following products from the Cisco Small Business range;
1 x Cisco WIP310 Wireless-G IP Phone
3 x Cisco WAP4410N Wireless Access Points
2 x Cisco VC220 Dome network cameras
1 x Cisco VC240 Bullet network camera
The experience I've had with every single one of these devices has been appalling. A faulty device I can understand. A device that has the occasional glitch I can also understand, but none of these devices has even come close to performing anywhere near to their advertised levels.
Some specifics.
The Cisco WIP310 Wireless-G IP phone
This device simply refuses to stay connected to a wireless access point. It will drop out, sometimes within minutes, always within a couple of hours. Finally, thinking it was the AP i was using (we tried Snapgear, Netgear, Belkin, and even D-Link) I bought a Cisco WAP4410N. That just made things worse (see below).
The phone was RMA'ed, and the firmware updated. I finally ended up throwing it in a cupboard and writing it off as a dud.
The Cisco WAP4410N Access Points.
I bought the first one of these to try and improve the WIP310 phones network connection. When I ditched the phone, I kept the AP and used it to provide connectivity to various iPhones. iPads, laptops, and game consoles we have around the house. It replaced an old 3Com unit that had worked flawlessly for several years.
For the first couple of weeks the AP seemed to work OK, and when a requirement came up for another 2 AP's at my office, I simply bought 2 more of these.
Ever since then I had to suffer daily device lockups. Without fail, once every 24 hours, 2 of the 3 lock up sold, requiring a power cycle to fix. No errors in the logs, nothing to indicate why. Only 1 of them is stable. I've upgraded the firmware on them as it becomes available, but it makes no difference. The same problem remains.
The Cisco VC220 and 240 cameras.
Not being a person to learn from past mistakes, and apparently a glutton for punishment, when I needed some IP surveillence cameras I immediately turned to the trusted Cisco brand, and bought 2 x VC220 dome cameras and a VC240 bullet camera. These things are expensive, and appear to be well built. The reviews I could find on the net had nothing but praise for the entire range.
Well, of the 3 cameras, one VC220 locks up solid every 24 hours requiring a power cycle, and the image quality from the VC240 is absolutely atrocious. I've seen better streaming video from a $20 webcam. It's night vision image is even worse.
The last VC200 seems to be working OK (so far)
The two faulty cameras have been RMA'ed. I'm waiting on the replacements. (
RMA/Service Order# 84013189 - Service Request# 618931311 and
RMA/Service Order# 84013196 - Service Request# 618931527)
If they exhibit the same problems, the whole lot will be returned with a request for a refund.
This whole experience has completely soured my attitude towards Cisco. Do large corporations REALLY use cisco devices to connect and route their networks? I suspect not for much longer if this is any example. 5 out of 7 devices with a cost of about $3000 that don't operate as advertised.
Am I just having a bad run here? The Cisco support forums seem to be full of people having the same issues with the same gear, so I supect the answer is no.
John.
