Tech Forum

Hello, I wanted everyone to know about a wierd thing that just happened with a "new" 881W. First of all, I will admit I was not the original person to install and activate it. I was however the person who got the opportunity to replace it.
The new 881W was installed in one of my buildings by my FM group. I am sure this was not the first one they had ever installed. I received an email from the FM group telling me all was well and it was working as expected. Until the next morning.......First of all this building has a FHC director that just can't/won't leave the equipment alone..LOL. Whenever his FHC opens, he reboots all the IT equipment. (I think he thinks it runs faster that way?)
Anyway.... his FHC computers were already up and running, so when he rebooted the IT equipment, he was taken back into the activation page. Who knows what he changed, but the building lost connectivity immediately. I talked with the Salt Lake networking people and they told me this cannot happen.... trust me it did!
So... my best advice here...immediately after activation, don't leave the building system still connected to port "0". You know.... at one point when I installed one of these... Ihad a small voice, feeling... to move it to another port. Best of luck and this may very well be just a one time thing...

I'm trying to remember what happened to me. Instead of reading the instructions, I tried to wing it. I think I ended up with limited connectivity or something until I went back and did it right.

What's the significance of port "0"? Aren't the ports just a switch and you'd end up in the same situation if the 881W lost it's mind?

dfdavis wrote:First of all this building has a FHC director that just can't/won't leave the equipment alone..LOL. Whenever his FHC opens, he reboots all the IT equipment. (I think he thinks it runs faster that way?)

It's best to secure the firewall. That is the recommendation of the meetinghouse technology team, as described in Placement of the meetinghouse firewall. The FHC director has no right to touch that equipment at all, and should cease immediately. If possible, the stake technology specialist should work with the FM group to make sure it's not even possible for him or anyone else to touch the equipment.

I know it may be challenging to deliver this message, and there may also be technical challenges, but that's the way it should be. If the firewall had been secured, you wouldn't have had this problem (I know that must seem like really helpful advice after you already have the problem, but perhaps it will help someone else reading this thread).

aebrown wrote:It's best to secure the firewall. That is the recommendation of the meetinghouse technology team, as described in Placement of the meetinghouse firewall. The FHC director has no right to touch that equipment at all, and should cease immediately. If possible, the stake technology specialist should work with the FM group to make sure it's not even possible for him or anyone else to touch the equipment.

I imagine there's a few places where this is the case. Some of the first networks installed were for the FHC and then later the clerks could tap off of them. But things have changed and it's no longer the "FHC's network".

On the other hand, I'm not sure as you want to have to go to the chapel every time you need to do a restart just because the modem or firewall got weird. Personally, I'm not against letting the FHC Director have access to do that, but it does sound like this one needs to learn his place.

RussellHltn wrote:I imagine there's a few places where this is the case. Some of the first networks installed were for the FHC and then later the clerks could tap off of them. But things have changed and it's no longer the "FHC's network".

Yeah, that changed many years ago. There is only one network per building, and it is the responsibility of the FM group and the stake technology specialist. The FHC is simply one user (a very important one, but just a user).

RussellHltn wrote:On the other hand, I'm not sure as you want to have to go to the chapel every time you need to do a restart just because the modem or firewall got weird.

The chapel would be one of the worst places to have to go for a restart -- what if it is needed during some ward's sacrament meeting? Surely there are many, many better places than that!

RussellHltn wrote:Personally, I'm not against letting the FHC Director have access to do that, but it does sound like this one needs to learn his place.

My take is that you start with the premise that only the STS does any resetting of any equipment. Then if he chooses to delegate that to specific people under specific conditions, that is his choice. But it's not a responsibility anyone can simply assume as a user of the equipment -- it must be specifically delegated.

aebrown wrote:The chapel would be one of the worst places to have to go for a restart -- what if it is needed during some ward's sacrament meeting? Surely there are many, many better places than that!

In this case, I was using "chapel" as a synonym for "meetinghouse". If only one person has the key to reset the firewall, Murphy's Law will dictate that the need to reset it will happen at the most inconvenient times. Since the FHC is probably open on a number of days other then Sunday, the odds of needing it during their hours operation are significantly above "zero".

RussellHltn wrote:I'm trying to remember what happened to me. Instead of reading the instructions, I tried to wing it. I think I ended up with limited connectivity or something until I went back and did it right.

What's the significance of port "0"? Aren't the ports just a switch and you'd end up in the same situation if the 881W lost it's mind?

Port zero is the programming port.

aebrown wrote:

RussellHltn wrote:I imagine there's a few places where this is the case. Some of the first networks installed were for the FHC and then later the clerks could tap off of them. But things have changed and it's no longer the "FHC's network".

Yeah, that changed many years ago. There is only one network per building, and it is the responsibility of the FM group and the stake technology specialist. The FHC is simply one user (a very important one, but just a user).

While this is true, in our situation, Comcast long ago plumbed their cable into our Family History Library, so that's where the modem and firewall live. We are fortunate to have a great group working there and they will only reset the gear after all else fails (and usually only after calling one of us first).

dfdavis wrote:Port zero is the programming port.

Ok, but wouldn't you still have the same problem?

Mikerowaved wrote:While this is true, in our situation, Comcast long ago plumbed their cable into our Family History Library, so that's where the modem and firewall live. We are fortunate to have a great group working there and they will only reset the gear after all else fails (and usually only after calling one of us first).

Our cable connection also goes into the FHC in our stake center, but the equipment is all in a locked box within the FHC.

But it's definitely true that having a good working relationship with the FHC staff is important. When a network supports the entire building, no one can simply reset equipment without having a significant chance of a negative impact on other users at different places in the building. If people understand that situation, they will usually be respectful.