Replacement for Etherwan switch?

Has anyone used a different switch for their CMM4 or can recommend a better option for use with the CMM4 that worked for them?

Can you just take the Etherwan switch out and have the power ports operate as the switch?  I understand I would be loosing out on some functionality and gigabit uplinks but I'll take that over just not working well.  

-Nathan

Haven't bothered doing this, I came up with a config I like that treats it more like a CMM3 than a full switch. Has worked great for us the last few years.

Yes you could rip out the EtherWan and run cables from the CMM to another switch. At that point it'd just be a massive sync injector and PoE block.

When you say you use the CMM4 like the CMM3, what do you mean?  Does the CMM4 work like the CMM3 if you simply yank the Etherwan switch?  I guess that's what I don't really know.  

I have (4) 450 AP's and a backhual running into the CMM4 now and I'd like for it to just work as a CMM3.  But, I didn't know if you could use it without the switch or not becuase I haven't tried.

No, the base CMM4 board has no switching capability, it's just a sync and POE unit.

What I mean is that originally I treated the EtherWan like a normal Cisco switch on our network and loaded them up with VLANs. I didn't like that so I loaded a very simple configuration that uses port-based VLANs to isolate traffic between the APs, which is how I run my CMM3s. Now I don't have to touch the EtherWan switches ever. In the port-based mode, though, there is no VLAN ID for management traffic. I can post a config if you like.

I'd love to see your config.  So, to be clear, you use the Etherwan switch but only in port-based Vlan mode instead of tagging mode?  We are experiencing some weird ethernet issues up and down the tower- replaced cabling and AP already but still getting similar CRC errors and drops and I'm looking at simplifying the troubleshooting process by eliminating things.  Thanks!

Yes, that's correct. VLAN mode won't have any bearing on your issues, though! Regardless here's a cleaned version of my configs. We run our CMM4s up with the APs and then just run power and uplink down to the box with the "real" switch at the base. With your cabling running that far there's a lot to check for... grounding, shielding, and RFI particularly. After reading so many threads here and on various mailing lists I'm very glad we don't operate on any FM towers!

!
hostname tower1-etherwan
!
enable password SuperSecretPassword
log stdout
!
username root password SuperSecretPassword
username admin privilege 15 password SuperSecretPassword
!
!
bridge 1 protocol ieee vlan-bridge
mls qos enable
wrr-queue bandwidth    1   2   4   8
wrr-queue cos-map 0 0 
wrr-queue cos-map 1 1 2 
wrr-queue cos-map 2 3 4 6 7 
wrr-queue cos-map 3 5 
mls qos map dscp-queue 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 to 0
mls qos map dscp-queue 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 to 0
mls qos map dscp-queue 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 to 0
mls qos map dscp-queue 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 to 0
mls qos map dscp-queue 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 to 0
mls qos map dscp-queue 43 44 45 47 48 49 50 51 to 0
mls qos map dscp-queue 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 to 0
mls qos map dscp-queue 60 61 62 63 to 0
mls qos map dscp-queue 24 25 26 to 2
mls qos map dscp-queue 46 to 3
mls qos trust cos dscp
ip ssh
snmp-server description Tower 1 EtherWan
snmp-server contact salad@provider.net
snmp-server location Tower 1, Some Random Rd, Inverary ON
snmp-server community set Canopy
snmp-server community get Canopyro
snmp-server trap-community 1 Canopy
snmp-server trap-ipaddress 1 10.9.9.5
snmp-server trap-type enable linkDown
snmp-server trap-type enable linkUp
snmp-server v3-user root rw auth md5 SuperSecretPassword
snmp-server enable
bridge 1 hello-time 1
bridge 1 max-age 6
!
vlan mode 2
 vlan 1 bridge 1 name vlan1
 vlan 1 bridge 1 state enable
 vlan 2 bridge 1 name vlan2
 vlan 2 bridge 1 state enable
 vlan 3 bridge 1 name vlan3
 vlan 3 bridge 1 state enable
 vlan 4 bridge 1 name vlan4
 vlan 4 bridge 1 state enable
 vlan 5 bridge 1 name vlan5
 vlan 5 bridge 1 state enable
 vlan 6 bridge 1 name vlan6
 vlan 6 bridge 1 state enable
 vlan 7 bridge 1 name vlan7
 vlan 7 bridge 1 state enable
 vlan 8 bridge 1 name vlan8
 vlan 8 bridge 1 state enable
 vlan 9 bridge 1 name vlan9
 vlan 9 bridge 1 state enable
 vlan 10 bridge 1 name vlan10
 vlan 10 bridge 1 state enable
 vlan 11 bridge 1 name vlan11
 vlan 11 bridge 1 state enable
 vlan 12 bridge 1 name vlan12
 vlan 12 bridge 1 state enable
 vlan 13 bridge 1 name vlan13
 vlan 13 bridge 1 state enable
 vlan 14 bridge 1 name vlan14
 vlan 14 bridge 1 state enable
 vlan 15 bridge 1 name vlan15
 vlan 15 bridge 1 state enable
 vlan 16 bridge 1 name vlan16
 vlan 16 bridge 1 state enable
!
ip igmp snooping querier
ip igmp snooping enable
!
interface fe1
 description WiMAX AP 1
 mtu 1518
 switchport
 bridge-group 1
 switchport mode portbase
 switchport portbase remove vlan 1
 switchport portbase add vlan 2
 storm-control broadcast enable
 storm-control dlf-multicast enable
 storm-control level 0.1
 spanning-tree portfast
 spanning-tree portfast bpdu-guard enable
!
interface fe2
 description WiMAX AP 2
 mtu 1518
 switchport
 bridge-group 1
 switchport mode portbase
 switchport portbase remove vlan 1
 switchport portbase add vlan 3
 storm-control broadcast enable
 storm-control dlf-multicast enable
 storm-control level 0.1
!
interface fe3
 description WiMAX AP 3
 mtu 1518
 switchport
 bridge-group 1
 switchport mode portbase
 switchport portbase remove vlan 1
 switchport portbase add vlan 4
 storm-control broadcast enable
 storm-control dlf-multicast enable
 storm-control level 0.1
!
interface fe4
 description WiMAX AP 4
 mtu 1518
 switchport
 bridge-group 1
 switchport mode portbase
 switchport portbase remove vlan 1
 switchport portbase add vlan 5
 storm-control broadcast enable
 storm-control dlf-multicast enable
 storm-control level 0.1
!
interface fe5
 description PMP-450 AP 1
 mtu 1518
 switchport
 bridge-group 1
 switchport mode portbase
 switchport portbase remove vlan 1
 switchport portbase add vlan 6
 storm-control broadcast enable
 storm-control dlf-multicast enable
 storm-control level 0.1
!
interface fe6
 description PMP-450 AP 2
 mtu 1518
 switchport
 bridge-group 1
 switchport mode portbase
 switchport portbase remove vlan 1
 switchport portbase add vlan 7
 storm-control broadcast enable
 storm-control dlf-multicast enable
 storm-control level 0.1
!
interface fe7
 description PMP-450 AP 3
 mtu 1518
 switchport
 bridge-group 1
 switchport mode portbase
 switchport portbase remove vlan 1
 switchport portbase add vlan 8
 storm-control broadcast enable
 storm-control dlf-multicast enable
 storm-control level 0.1
!
interface fe8
 description PMP-450 AP 4
 mtu 1518
 switchport
 bridge-group 1
 switchport mode portbase
 switchport portbase remove vlan 1
 switchport portbase add vlan 9
 storm-control broadcast enable
 storm-control dlf-multicast enable
 storm-control level 0.1
!
interface fe9
 description CMM management
 mtu 1518
 switchport
 bridge-group 1
 switchport mode portbase
 switchport portbase add vlan 1
 storm-control broadcast enable
 storm-control dlf-multicast enable
 storm-control level 0.1
!
interface fe10
 mtu 1518
 switchport
 bridge-group 1
 switchport mode portbase
 switchport portbase add vlan 1
 storm-control broadcast enable
 storm-control dlf-multicast enable
 storm-control level 0.1
!
interface fe11
 mtu 1518
 switchport
 bridge-group 1
 switchport mode portbase
 switchport portbase add vlan 1
 storm-control broadcast enable
 storm-control dlf-multicast enable
 storm-control level 0.1
!
interface fe12
 mtu 1518
 switchport
 bridge-group 1
 switchport mode portbase
 switchport portbase add vlan 1
 storm-control broadcast enable
 storm-control dlf-multicast enable
 storm-control level 0.1
!
interface ge1
 description UPLINK to tower1-c2950 Gi0/10
 mtu 1518
 switchport
 bridge-group 1
 switchport mode portbase
 switchport portbase add vlan 1
 switchport portbase add vlan 2
 switchport portbase add vlan 3
 switchport portbase add vlan 4
 switchport portbase add vlan 5
 switchport portbase add vlan 6
 switchport portbase add vlan 7
 switchport portbase add vlan 8
 switchport portbase add vlan 9
 storm-control broadcast enable
 storm-control dlf-multicast enable
 storm-control level 0.1
!
interface ge2
 description SPARE UPLINK
 mtu 1518
 switchport
 bridge-group 1
 switchport mode portbase
 switchport portbase add vlan 1
 switchport portbase add vlan 2
 switchport portbase add vlan 3
 switchport portbase add vlan 4
 switchport portbase add vlan 5
 switchport portbase add vlan 6
 switchport portbase add vlan 7
 switchport portbase add vlan 8
 switchport portbase add vlan 9
 storm-control broadcast enable
 storm-control dlf-multicast enable
 storm-control level 0.1
!
interface vlan1.1
 ip address 10.2.3.4/26
 ip igmp version 2
!
ip default-gateway 10.2.3.1
ntp server 10.9.9.9
clock timezone EST -5
ntp polling-interval 60
ntp enable
clock summer-time EDT date 11 mar 2 00 4 nov 2 00 60
!
ip dns 10.9.9.10
!
line con 0
 login
line vty 0 4
 login
!
end

Be VERY glad you're not on any FM towers and I do not recommend them unless you like the challenge of figuring out how to avoid the most craziest interference on ethernet runs and negotiation issues and throwing endless money and climbs into the fold.  Nonetheless, this EtherWan switch doesn't want to behave at times so it's nice to see how other have set them up.  Thanks for the info.  Appreciated.

Hi There,

               We replaced several of our EtherWan switches and all new CMM4 deployments going forward use the Comnet - 18 port DC model = CNGE2FE16MS.

Hello!

What were the reasons why you switched to Comnet switches?  What were your experiences with EtherWan?

The Etherwan switch is fine until you get too big of a bridged network.  We had trouble with corrupted ARP tables, which resulted in the switch multicasting packets to unrelated segments of our network.  We had to replace it.  We are now using a Mikrotik CRS125-24G-1S-IN.  It's less than $200 and has more features than you can shake a stick at.

We use it as a wirespeed switch with port protection like you would setup a CMM3.  The nice thing about this switch is the size.  It fits inside the CMM4 and can be powered from the CMM4 just like the Etherwan.  It is all gigabit and has an SPF port.  It even has a display on the top that is again perfect for the CMM4, because of how you mount it.  It easily monitors the throughput of each connected radio and will graph each interface for lookup purposes.  There is a learning curve, but it does everything you can think of.

Will