Motorola Solutions comes through again!
Posted: Thu Mar 22, 2018 4:38 pm
So, there I was programming yet another batch of RDU4100's for my employer when while in the process of doing so for the 3rd radio in the group, the software decided to do something different. Normally when writing to a radio, the software progress starts indicating 20-30% then usually jumps to around 63% before showing write success. Not on radio number 3.
Now before blaming radio or software, I must say that my employer recently put a bunch of wireless tablets online which has been doing some serious damage to our network speed. Not a good thing when using web based software. Back to radio 3. This time the software starts initially at the normal 20-30% progress range, but, that is the only normal part. Immediately after hitting the 30% mark it slows down and starts showing progress at only 1 or 2% at a time. It continues at this crawl all the way up to 95% where it pauses for 20 to 30 seconds. After that it suddenly jumps to "Write Successful" but, I know it was anything but. Radio 3 not only doesn't emit the confirming "I'm programmed" chime, but, it stops making any sound at all. To boot, the red led that normally blinks when the radio is powered up now shines steadily, and, the radio still makes no sound when powering it up.
Having literally programmed hundreds of these radios, I've never seen this happen. After trying again to program it with no success, I then tried the 3 button factory reset trick, but, that didn't work either. I blamed our overcrowded network for bricking this new radio at first thinking that I am stuck with an expensive paperweight.
With nothing else to lose, I figured it was worth reaching out to a contact I made at Motorola Solutions a few years back with my dilemma in case there was something else I could try.
Within 20 minutes after shooting an email to my contact, he calls me on the phone and not only thanks me for reaching out, but, tells me that Motorola will gladly warranty the radio even though I made it clear in my email that our network was overcrowded. He explained that even though the network is busy, the software should still work properly, and while it doesn't happen very often, it still does. Every time I have contacted Motorola Solutions they have been nothing but great. I know not everyone has had the same experiences, but, all too often we only hear about the bad ones. I wanted to share my good one.
Now before blaming radio or software, I must say that my employer recently put a bunch of wireless tablets online which has been doing some serious damage to our network speed. Not a good thing when using web based software. Back to radio 3. This time the software starts initially at the normal 20-30% progress range, but, that is the only normal part. Immediately after hitting the 30% mark it slows down and starts showing progress at only 1 or 2% at a time. It continues at this crawl all the way up to 95% where it pauses for 20 to 30 seconds. After that it suddenly jumps to "Write Successful" but, I know it was anything but. Radio 3 not only doesn't emit the confirming "I'm programmed" chime, but, it stops making any sound at all. To boot, the red led that normally blinks when the radio is powered up now shines steadily, and, the radio still makes no sound when powering it up.
Having literally programmed hundreds of these radios, I've never seen this happen. After trying again to program it with no success, I then tried the 3 button factory reset trick, but, that didn't work either. I blamed our overcrowded network for bricking this new radio at first thinking that I am stuck with an expensive paperweight.
With nothing else to lose, I figured it was worth reaching out to a contact I made at Motorola Solutions a few years back with my dilemma in case there was something else I could try.
Within 20 minutes after shooting an email to my contact, he calls me on the phone and not only thanks me for reaching out, but, tells me that Motorola will gladly warranty the radio even though I made it clear in my email that our network was overcrowded. He explained that even though the network is busy, the software should still work properly, and while it doesn't happen very often, it still does. Every time I have contacted Motorola Solutions they have been nothing but great. I know not everyone has had the same experiences, but, all too often we only hear about the bad ones. I wanted to share my good one.