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I have a switch that was damaged by a storm. Several ports won't eth link up (or provide power, couldn't really tell). Is an RMA'ed unit as good as new after the $50 repair?

jluthman wrote:I have a switch that was damaged by a storm. Several ports won't eth link up (or provide power, couldn't really tell). Is an RMA'ed unit as good as new after the $50 repair?

First I have no idea what the repair fee will be, why do you think it will be $50?
You do not buy a repair fee until you RMA it and we tell you how much it costs to repair.
When we repair a unit is passes all the same test we do on a new unit.

To RMA a unit follow the instructions here: viewtopic.php?f=6&t=1259

I'd be the fellow making sure repaired units are, in fact, good as new.

I have a little over 15 years in the technology field, mostly component-level repair of commercial and enterprise grade networking equipment. I learned my trade as a benefit of my Navy service as a nuclear field electronics technician. Some of the names on my resume include Jabil Global Services (aftermarket services on Cisco devices) and Zhone Technologies (formerly AT&T Paradyne Systems), so I have an excellent background with telecommunications and networking equipment.

I personally test every single switch I send back into the field, using a test plan I sat down with our engineer and worked out to be more comprehensive than even factory testing, so I feel very confident in saying that if I release your switch as repaired, it will perform according to design specifications, and in some cases, it will be better than new, since we continuously improve our designs based on real-world performance and our own testing data.

With any repair, the cost depends on 1) what's wrong with the thing in the first place, and 2) whether I can fix it with the equipment we have here. About 40% of the time, it will be the worst case: cost of a new board, which is about half of the price of a new switch, less in some cases - The other 60% of the time, I'm able to save you a fair bit, the average repair is around $50.

Short answer, Yes, your switch will be good as new.

I could have sworn I saw it was $50 somewhere, but I can obviously be mistaken. Good as new is what I'm after - thanks!

Unfortunately I have a bunch of faulty Netonix switches. All those with white front decals are dead. They was from first production batch I think.

Any idea in returning them to you for repair or will shipping from Europe to USA be too expensive ?

Sending in for repair makes sense, as long as shipping costs are kept reasonable - remember, a new board is half the cost of a new switch. Shipping multiple units back at a time is one way of keeping those costs down.

I will fix anything that comes in, as long as we have or can acquire parts to do so.

I sent an email in 2 days ago and haven't gotten any automated accepted response or any RMA approval response (or denial...)

What's the turn around typically like? Should I have gotten an automated message?

Chris handles the RMA emails personally. I'll run a request up the flagpole and see if he can't get you handled. His wife has been having some medical stuff lately, so i apologize for the wait. After you do get the email, here's what to expect:

Once your unit gets here, I'm running at around a 2 day turnaround for the actual repair, and then it's usually another day before we'll advise you of any necessary fees - as soon as any of those there might be are taken care of, your unit will ship back to you, so 3-5 business days in total.

Minimum repair is $25, which is usually the case for a blown port or something minor, and fees go up (rounding down to the nearest multiple of $25) from there, to the cost of a new board - we don't generate revenue from this, it more or less just pays for Chris' and my time handling them.

Hope that helps!

No problems, just wanted to make sure my email went through and wasn't caught in spam and I'm waiting for nothing.

jluthman wrote:No problems, just wanted to make sure my email went through and wasn't caught in spam and I'm waiting for nothing.

I have been returning RMA requests usually within 24 hours sometimes 48 hours (business days)

More than likely 1 of 2 things happened:
1) I never got your RAM request
2) I sent you your RMA # and info and you did not get it

What email address did you send the RMA request from or what was the MAC address of the unit?