Can anyone tell me if I can roll back a 2400smdd from 8.2_6 firmware to 7.3.6?
No, P10 must use v8.x-9.x
Then, is there a version of 8+ firmware for the SMs that will allow me to connect to the SMs through a 7.3.6 AP via snmp? It was certainly nice to allow the installers to complete an install without having to know a static IP for the SM and then simply check his work through the AP and at that time add that static IP once the installation is complete.
You will have to upgrade the AP to the newer firmware if you want to be able to do this.
I have several SMs with 8.2 firmware and I can communicate with all of them via snmp through the 7.3.6 APs. Can I simply roll the SMDDs back to 8.2 from 8.?? (I forgot the actual versions, I think 8.2.4)? Are there any known bugs in 8.2? I only have about 40 SMs with 8.2 and I haven’t discovered any issues except signal strength measurement is not relative to earlier versions.
On the other hand, I am not opposed to upgrading AP’s firmware. I don’t really like the 8.x management interface, but I can live with it. What I am most concerned about is that I have a WISP out here that I have put my life into, doing that upgrade and finding out that it takes down my network. My customers just will not stand for interruptions in service. There are too many competitiors available to them. I have heard of too many “horror stories”!
Is there any particular firmware version that is the best with the least number of bugs above 7.3.6? I run a basic operation. No Prizm, no BAM, simple backbone routed at the border router into sectors and using pppoe on the customer’s routers or computers. 88 APs and 900+ customers.
I would bypass v.8 and go directly to 9.3 or 9.4 (Make sure you follow the upgrade path in the firmware version release notes). Version 8.x was problematic and version 9 has proven to be very stable. Version 9.x also comes with a PPPoE client which would prove to be useful in your deployment. Version 9.4 is also the only version I believe that will support P11 SMs.
You can also use CNUT and schedule the software upgrade at non-peak periods (i.e. Monday Morning at 3:00AM). I would however setup a “Planned Network Outage” with my customers. Send out email notifications to your customers that there may be a interruption in services between Time A and Time B and plan the upgrade for a evening or weekend that way not affecting your business customers. Start with a AP cluster with the least number of subs and work your way out.
I would highly recommend you upgrade at minimum to the software version of your newest SM. It is not good practice to have a software version mismatch between your APs and SMs.