Redport Wifi Extenders without Optimizer

[Makr0]

Hey Everyone.

I have a Redport Wifi Extender on my boat, I've never really used it due to my cellular modem but being I'm an IT person I decided to start looking at it and see how I would integrate into my Comms stack.

Long story short the RedPort Optimizer unit is dead... I can still see the wifi antenna, but the login redirects me to where the Optimizer would normally be.

https://www.redportglobal.com/wi-fi-...tender-system/

The antenna has pulled an IP address and has an open SSH port but it's looking for an auth cert that I don't have.

Does anyone know if the WIFI extender can be used/configured via SSH without the optimizer?

I have reached out to redport but have yet to get an answer. I would be stoked if I could remove the optimizer and configure the unit via SSH only

thanks

[Lake-Effect]

Originally Posted by Makr0

Hey Everyone.

I have a Redport Wifi Extender on my boat, I've never really used it due to my cellular modem but being I'm an IT person I decided to start looking at it and see how I would integrate into my Comms stack.

Long story short the RedPort Optimizer unit is dead... I can still see the wifi antenna, but the login redirects me to where the Optimizer would normally be.

https://www.redportglobal.com/wi-fi-...tender-system/

The antenna has pulled an IP address and has an open SSH port but it's looking for an auth cert that I don't have.

Does anyone know if the WIFI extender can be used/configured via SSH without the optimizer?

I have reached out to redport but have yet to get an answer. I would be stoked if I could remove the optimizer and configure the unit via SSH only

thanks

Have you tried a factory reset of the Optimizer?

A friend and I struggled with this for a few days. Our conclusion: they don't want to let anyone talk directly to the Halo without the Optimizer. I could ping it, and found a port that responds to SSH, but couldn't log in. And we couldn't find a web admin page, like one could find with the Ubiquiti radios.

[Makr0]

Originally Posted by Lake-Effect

Have you tried a factory reset of the Optimizer?

A friend and I struggled with this for a few days. Our conclusion: they don't want to let anyone talk directly to the Halo without the Optimizer. I could ping it, and found a port that responds to SSH, but couldn't log in. And we couldn't find a web admin page, like one could find with the Ubiquiti radios.

Yeah I tried I reset, but the sizeable scorch mark on the redport pcb tells me she’s not coming Back without me trying to replace a blown resister.

About 20 seconds ago I got a message back from Redport. The antenna needs the optimizer they work together. …. So I’ve purchased a new optimizer.

I’m somewhat tempted to try to revive the dead unit and see if I can swipe the SSH key and get into the antenna directly.

[Lake-Effect]

Originally Posted by Makr0

Yeah I tried I reset, but the sizeable scorch mark on the redport pcb tells me she’s not coming Back without me trying to replace a blown resister.

About 20 seconds ago I got a message back from Redport. The antenna needs the optimizer they work together. …. So I’ve purchased a new optimizer.

I’m somewhat tempted to try to revive the dead unit and see if I can swipe the SSH key and get into the antenna directly.

The blown resistor is often indicative of a failed IC or other semiconductor, unless you can pinpoint another cause. Still, always worth a try.

[Bucket]

Originally Posted by Lake-Effect

The blown resistor is often indicative of a failed IC or other semiconductor, unless you can pinpoint another cause. Still, always worth a try.

Agreed, I can just about guarantee that replacing the resistor will not solve the problem. Resistors on PCBs like this do not fail unless a) a major design problem (very unlikely) b) something else failed, like an IC. Now, it is possible something like an over-voltage on an input line cause the resistor to blow, but only if it can traced directly to a port.

If you’ve got nothing better to do, play around, but as an Electrical Engineer that used to design things like this, without the schematic it’s seldom worth the time unless you are changing a fuse.

Best of luck!
Mike