After hours of
debugging, I got this 20MHz single-polarity link moving up
to 55Mbit. A high resolution spectrum analysis on both
sides did indeed show a better frequency to use for the
link. Spectrum analysis captures here:
https://imgur.com/a/4H7GB
There was also an IP conflict between two modems @ Capitol
Park. The conflicting IP has been removed from
CapitolPark-S3.
The QueenAnne modem used for the link is not one used
anywhere else on the network. It's a very low-end modem,
and as a result it was having CPU/RAM starvation issues
when running our regular diagnostic tools, which lead to
out-of-memory conditions and kernel crashes. A different
test methodology had to be used to verify the link speed
(testing through the modem, instead of to the modem).
The modem that links QueenAnne with the Westin building
(on the QueenAnne side) had a mis-configured OSPF
router-id. This was fixed.
I'm still seeing weird routing decisions being made by
OSPF. These are triggered by our point-to-point route
entries (
44.24.242.0/24
space). More research needs to be done here, and perhaps
a re-write of how we define point-to-point interface
addresses. Any OSPF experts in the house?
I also discovered R1.QueenAnne was still vulnerable to
hacking due to a mis-configuration of its control
software. It missed the updates that were sent out to the
whole network. This has been fixed now. R1.QueenAnne
also didn't have the diagnostic bandwidth-server setup
correctly. This was fixed.
With the CapitolPark-QueenAnne link performing well now:
[eo@CapitolPark-QueenAnne] /system resource> /tool
bandwidth-test 44.24.241.81 direction=both
status: running
duration: 57s
tx-current: 28.0Mbps
tx-10-second-average: 28.4Mbps
tx-total-average: 27.5Mbps
rx-current: 27.6Mbps
rx-10-second-average: 28.0Mbps
rx-total-average: 27.0Mbps
lost-packets: 288
random-data: no
direction: both
tx-size: 1500
rx-size: 1500
its OSPF config has been reset to a normal preference
level, so that packets no longer try to avoid that link as
they are routed through the network. This link can be
sped up by upgrading to a dual-polarity modem @
CapitolPark.
While testing if the OSPF hop cost was being calculated
correctly in the Beacon-Haystack-QueenAnne RF link (they
both connect to the same dish @ Haystack), I discovered a
mis-config on the Haystack.Beacon modem (bad LAN IP
binding) which was preventing it from bringing up OSPF on
its LAN interface. This was fixed and that modem should
act like an actual router now, moving traffic.
During the same Beacon testing, I was reminded that our
Baldi-Beacon RF link
sucks.
It was optimized for speed to Tukwila, which is now gone,
so a trip needs to be scheduled to Baldi to rotate the
dish a few degrees north and get that link going strong.
I normally wouldn't send this kind of verbose email to
psdr@, but I hope it's illuminating as to the type and
extent of work required to keep this network running well.
--Bart