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Pre-purchase Question


jbhur

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I'm looking to buy a Tetra to replace my now pooched Mark V. However, I need some clarifications.

I intend to deploy the Tetra a considerable distance from the desktop computer on which I'll be running the management interface.

I'd like to be able to access the management interface though the Tetra's RJ45 Ethernet port. I understand that access to the Tetra's management web interface defaults to the Ethernet-over-USB port (referred to as the LAN port). Can this access be changed such that the Tetra management console can be accessed through the RJ45 port (referred to as the WAN port)? Other than initial configuration, I'll have no need to use the LAN port, as there won't be a computer within USB cable range.

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As long as your on the same network as the Tetra you can find the IP address of the Tetra and login to the WEBUI through that IP address. For example if the ip address was 192.168.0.25, login to the WEBUI with 192.168.0.25:1471 and the web interface should pop right up.  I do this with my nano all the time so that I can access it through different PC on the same network.

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Thanks for your input.

So, if I'm understanding you correctly and if the Tetra behaves similarly to the Nano, at first power-up I should be able to plug the Tetra's RJ45 port into my switch, allow it to obtain an IP address from my local DHCP server (the Tetra's RJ45 port defaults as a DHCP client) and, after logging into the Tetra's UI, configure it without ever having to use the Ethernet-over-USB port. That would be sweet. I assume you're using an USB-to-Ethernet adapter plugged into the Nano's USB hosting port and are able to use that connection to provide both Internet connectivity to wireless hosts connected to your Nano as well as management access. If the Tetra's RJ45 behaves the same way, that too would be sweet.

 

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Correct that is how it is suppose to work.  I use a wireless dongle on the female usb side of the nano and a battery on the male side.  Initially setup over usb-to-ethernet to configure everything but once your on the network, the local DHCP server will give the Tetra or Nano an IP address and you just login to that IP with the port number 1471 and your good to go.  It is extremely useful if you want to accesses it and not have to connect it to the PC.  

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Hello jbhur,

b0N3z is correct in his statements; that is the exact same setup I have at my office as well, and it works without a single issue. I have the tetra, and after the initial setup using the USB-ETH cable (just to set it up with upgraded firmware and such), I connected it to my LAN in the server room through the RJ-45 port, and on reboot it picked up an IP automatically from my DHCP server; and it remains there doing what it does best...

I hope you enjoy your new gear, post back with the results!

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I received the Tetra a couple of days ago. I did have to first connect through the Ethernet-over-USB port to initialize the device. I could not establish an Ethernet connection on the RJ45 port until I did that, even though my local DHCP server provided the Tetra with an IP address. After initialization, I was able to use the WebGUI over the RJ45 without issue.

I was sorry to see that there are no wall-mounting plastic bosses on the case like those on the MKV. I had to rig up something to mount the device in the vertical plane. I had to lie about my time zone to get the right time displayed in the system logs, even after changing the default time servers and having my local DHCP server provide a NTP server parameter.

The wifi reception is good, maybe better than that of the MKV, but still not good enough for my placement. Transmission is very good. I found that external wifi cards with Atheros AR9271 (Alfa NHA, TP-Link WN722N) and  Realtek RTL8187 (Alfa NH) chipsets  work quite well, even when both are attached simultaneously (through a powered hub, of course). However, the Realtek RTL8188 chipset (used in the Alfa NHR) causes unpredictable instabilities such as WebGUI lock-ups and out-and-out kernel crashes, requiring power cycling.

I plan to get an external wifi antenna amplifier to improve the 2.4 GHz reception of at least one of the external adapters. (They don't do 5 GHz). If need be, I'll buy a high gain sector antenna to couple to the amp for even more reception boost. Lots to do!

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