Airave 4 and spectrums RAC2V1K modem router combo

[xshellacx]

Hello, and thanks in advance!

My ISP is spectrum and the equipment I was sent is a "spectrum modem" and a "RAC2V1K" router.  About two weeks ago I got an account with Sprint and found the service at my house to be less than desirable (works great everywhere else) I spoke with the sales man at the store and he told me I needed a "magicbox"  I set up the magic box and it had no effect on the quality of my phone calls.  I then called Sprint tech support and was told, "you don't need a magic box, you need an "airave 4"...okay, how did the other guys not know this? anyway, I'm sent the airave and notice in the directions that I have to open UDP port 53,67, 500, and 4500 bi-directionally. I tested weather or not those particular ports were open on my router and confirmed that they are not.  The airave device only has one ethernet port, and obviously, that connects to my router.

How do I open up the ports w/o knowing the IP address of the airave unit? 

Has anyone successfully set up an airave 4 with a RAC2V1K router?  If so, I'd very much like to hear how to accomplish this.

 

THANKS!

John P

[ingenium]

You don't need to open any ports. Just plug it in and it'll work. Those are outgoing ports, which no home connection blocks. I assume they only say that in case someone is installing it on a corporate network with a very strict outgoing firewall.

The magic box actually would have helped your phone calls, you just needed to wait a week or so. It takes about a week for VoLTE to get enabled on the Magic Box. Before that, it forces you to use the tower for voice.

The Airave will also get VoLTE after a week or so for what it's worth.

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[xshellacx]

thank you for the quick reply, but the device will not work.  It is set up as indicated  (save for opening those ports) and I've been on the phone with tech support 5 times, device will not work.  Do you have any ideas?  Thank you!

 

[ingenium]

thank you for the quick reply, but the device will not work.  It is set up as indicated  (save for opening those ports) and I've been on the phone with tech support 5 times, device will not work.  Do you have any ideas?  Thank you!
 

Which lights are on? What colors are they? Blinking or solid?

Did you use the including GPS antenna and put it in a window?

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[xshellacx]

Lights,  left to right (6 total) light one: solid red, light 2: solid green, light 3 solid red, light 4 solid green, light 5 solid green , light 6 blinking red.

Yes, antenna is plugged in and next to big window.

Again, thank you for your asistance

[xshellacx]

Update

lights changed (left to right) light 1: solid red, light 2: blinking red, light 3: solid red (was previously of for about 15 min, just turned on) light 4: solid green light 5: solid green, light 6: blinking red

[ingenium]

It sounds like it's not getting internet period. Are you sure it's plugged into a working port on your router? If you plug a computer or laptop into that same port, do you get internet?

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[xshellacx]

Sorry for the delay.  Yes, the port works (plugged in my laptop)  I ran arp -p and that device is not on my network.  IS there a wau for me to log into the device to see if's its getting an ip address?

 

[ingenium]

Sorry for the delay.  Yes, the port works (plugged in my laptop)  I ran arp -p and that device is not on my network.  IS there a wau for me to log into the device to see if's its getting an ip address?
 

Login to your router and you should be able to see active DHCP leases. The Airave has two sequential MAC addresses and requests two IP addresses. One for LTE and one for CDMA.

It's not possible to login to the Airave.

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[xshellacx]

These are

all the dhcp leases.  Airave still attached to lan and lights are constantly changing (cycling)

Edited April 11, 2020 by xshellacx

[xshellacx]

You mentioned earlier that the magicbox will improve my phone calls (seems like it already is) Should I just ship back the airrave?  Is thre any advantage to the airave?

 

Thank you for all your support!

[ingenium]

These are
all the dhcp leases.  Airave still attached to lan and lights are constantly changing (cycling)

The Airave doesn't appear to be getting DHCP leases. So there's probably something wrong with the port on your router or the cable you're using. Or else you have an Airave with a defective Ethernet port.

Does the appropriate light on your router come on when you plug in the Airave?

You mentioned earlier that the magicbox will improve my phone calls (seems like it already is) Should I just ship back the airrave?  Is thre any advantage to the airave?
 
Thank you for all your support!

If you have a phone capable of VoLTE, then yeah it will help. If you still have the magic box, plug it in and wait a week or so and it should start handling voice. The Airave has 3G (voice and data) in addition to LTE. But it has a smaller range than the magic box. The magic box only does LTE.

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[preskitt.man]

One of your Airave ports is connected. Airave MAC addresses begin 00 ao 0a xx xx xx.  There should be two addresses like these grabbing an IP address, typically sequential in nature. One is CDMA and the other is for LTE. 

Did you register (activate) your device with Sprint.  When I first got mine, I just assumed it was registered with Sprint. When I turned it on, CDMA would never go green while LTE would work fine. Wasn't till my 3rd phone call to Sprint that the tech noticed it was not activated on the Sprint network. She activated the device and it worked - all lights went Green.

As for VOLTE, not sure exactly when that began, but it was like about a month ago.  Got the Airave back close to a year ago. LTE worked fine, but no VOLTE. Kept hearing that Sprint would have to whitelist the device for to work. Periodically, I would check, and about a month ago, VOLTE finally came on.

[jonathanm1978]

So I spoke with Sprint about my Airave 3. I'm not sure why I didn't think about posting here about it..just hasn't been a huge deal..but the LTE part of the Airave has worked fine...since I got it back in May of 2019. The history with me and the Airave started with George Schnellbacher...we exchanged emails for quite a while..because I had a magic box that worked GREAT...for like, 2  years..until Sprint started losing licenses or adjusting the areas where they could deploy magic boxes..and suddenly one day my magic box quit working. Exchanged some emails with GJS and he finally determined that the area had shrunk for licensing around me, and I was about a mile too far from the line to have the MB deployed at my address...but he had an airave sent to me instead. 

I rec'd the Airave and hooked it up as normal -- cause before the MB came along, I had kept an airave since the Samsung version back in 2010..and they all worked great here. So plugged in, set-up the Airave..and lights went green. Figured all is well. Never noticed the 3-beep sound before a call..but didn't think much of it. GJS referred to the box as an S1000.  Finally today I decided to try and swap out the airave 3 for the airave 4...as I missed having the calls on the airave.  Talked with support this morning for an hour and half....they can't find the airave on my account..and I don't get the 3 beeps when calling. Plus, the agent said the closest airave to me was 7 miles away. Very odd...

I'm still getting all green lights..and the airave DOES give me LTE service on my phone (B41)...but nothing else. NO calls. 

 

So..what the heck??? I mean, the box says "Airave" on it..so it's GOT to be an airave...but it doesn't let me do calls? Even on VoLTE?

I have a note 10, note 9...etc ...all of my lines are capable of VoLTE..and Wifi calling. But this particular airave doesn't have calling or just does LTE?

 

Either way, i'll have the new airave in a day. And it'll be the Airave 4..and it's actually provisioned on my account. 

She said I needed to send back the current one..but if it's not provisioned on my account and doesn't come up in a search...would it really hurt to hook it up at my fire department just to have some better data inside (we have NO service on Sprint devices)...

 

I don't really know but I tend to think that they don't even know how this particular box is provisioned for use since she couldn't find it..and my station really needs a femtocell....

 

[ingenium]

So I spoke with Sprint about my Airave 3. I'm not sure why I didn't think about posting here about it..just hasn't been a huge deal..but the LTE part of the Airave has worked fine...since I got it back in May of 2019. The history with me and the Airave started with George Schnellbacher...we exchanged emails for quite a while..because I had a magic box that worked GREAT...for like, 2  years..until Sprint started losing licenses or adjusting the areas where they could deploy magic boxes..and suddenly one day my magic box quit working. Exchanged some emails with GJS and he finally determined that the area had shrunk for licensing around me, and I was about a mile too far from the line to have the MB deployed at my address...but he had an airave sent to me instead. 
I rec'd the Airave and hooked it up as normal -- cause before the MB came along, I had kept an airave since the Samsung version back in 2010..and they all worked great here. So plugged in, set-up the Airave..and lights went green. Figured all is well. Never noticed the 3-beep sound before a call..but didn't think much of it. GJS referred to the box as an S1000.  Finally today I decided to try and swap out the airave 3 for the airave 4...as I missed having the calls on the airave.  Talked with support this morning for an hour and half....they can't find the airave on my account..and I don't get the 3 beeps when calling. Plus, the agent said the closest airave to me was 7 miles away. Very odd...
I'm still getting all green lights..and the airave DOES give me LTE service on my phone (B41)...but nothing else. NO calls. 
 
So..what the heck??? I mean, the box says "Airave" on it..so it's GOT to be an airave...but it doesn't let me do calls? Even on VoLTE?
I have a note 10, note 9...etc ...all of my lines are capable of VoLTE..and Wifi calling. But this particular airave doesn't have calling or just does LTE?
 
Either way, i'll have the new airave in a day. And it'll be the Airave 4..and it's actually provisioned on my account. 
She said I needed to send back the current one..but if it's not provisioned on my account and doesn't come up in a search...would it really hurt to hook it up at my fire department just to have some better data inside (we have NO service on Sprint devices)...
 
I don't really know but I tend to think that they don't even know how this particular box is provisioned for use since she couldn't find it..and my station really needs a femtocell....
 

The Airave 3 can't do VoLTE. They really messed up IMS on it with one of the last updates pushed before marking it EOL. This also affected eCSFB (and texts on non SRLTE devices). So you could be having issues related to that, which is affecting your calls. You also could just be on 1x800, since the 3 doesn't have a 1x800 beacon.

If the magic box is not licensed for your area, the Airave 4 won't work either. They use the same config file and use the same earfcn. Unlike the Airave 3, which used the macro earfcn. Let us know if you manage to get it to work, but you almost certainly won't have LTE from it unless something changed.

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[jonathanm1978]

The Airave 2.5, 2.0, 1.0 and Samsung Airave all worked fine here... 

The problem is when GJS had his team add it ...it's not on my account. I'm not sure how they did it.

 

I get LTE from the 3.0 Airave right now..works like it should...just not anything voice. I don't know what is going on with it... but it's never had the 3 beeps since day 1 when I got it. I thought it just didn't do that anymore and never paid attention to it...but I started noticing that I had roaming on voice calls, when the Airave has ALL green lights on solid...so it piqued my curiosity.

[jonathanm1978]

Ok yeah..I just did some sleuthing...and the data connection shows it's connected to B41 on SCP..but the data connection isn't active. So if I turn off wifi, I resort to flipping constantly between active, inactive on SCP for data. Something definitely isn't right...I just never noticed.

Not sure why it displays B41 when I turned wifi on...but soon as I turned wifi off, it started switching between active/inactive...over and over.

Even with all the lights on the Airave solid green. What the heck is that thing broadcasting if it's not a signal that I can use?

[ingenium]

Ok yeah..I just did some sleuthing...and the data connection shows it's connected to B41 on SCP..but the data connection isn't active. So if I turn off wifi, I resort to flipping constantly between active, inactive on SCP for data. Something definitely isn't right...I just never noticed.
Not sure why it displays B41 when I turned wifi on...but soon as I turned wifi off, it started switching between active/inactive...over and over.
Even with all the lights on the Airave solid green. What the heck is that thing broadcasting if it's not a signal that I can use?

That's normal and exactly how it's supposed to function.

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[jonathanm1978]

But if I turn off wifi on my phone, i should be able to hit that B41 connection with my phone...but, the phone instead grabs a roaming AT&T B12 data, and completely ignores the B41 femtocell signal. If the Airave is supposed to boost service, and it doesn't boost voice service (at all) and it doesn't boost data service (at all), then what exactly is the purpose behind having it?

And they can't even find the thing in my account...

And she said according to her map, the closest Airave is 7 miles from my address..

not sure what it's connected to, or what it's broadcasting...but it's not something my note 10 will latch to unless I'm on wifi (then it just reads that there is B41)... Soon as the wifi on my phone is switched off, that B41 disappears and it reverts back to that B12 from AT&T

[ingenium]

But if I turn off wifi on my phone, i should be able to hit that B41 connection with my phone...but, the phone instead grabs a roaming AT&T B12 data, and completely ignores the B41 femtocell signal. If the Airave is supposed to boost service, and it doesn't boost voice service (at all) and it doesn't boost data service (at all), then what exactly is the purpose behind having it?
And they can't even find the thing in my account...
And she said according to her map, the closest Airave is 7 miles from my address..
not sure what it's connected to, or what it's broadcasting...but it's not something my note 10 will latch to unless I'm on wifi (then it just reads that there is B41)... Soon as the wifi on my phone is switched off, that B41 disappears and it reverts back to that B12 from AT&T

You didn't mention initially that it changes to b12.

It sounds like there's something wrong with the device. It honestly wouldn't surprise me if Airave 3s are completely broken now. They've been end of life for years.

It's possible that it was originally placed on an admin/corporate account instead of yours. And/or it was deactivated because it's end of life. Either way, it probably needs replaced with something else.

Unfortunately I don't know if they have anything that would work for you. All the femtocell solutions use the MB config file now, and will only work in areas where Sprint has the B41 license for MBs, which personally I think is stupid, but that's just the way it is. Nothing uses the macro earfcn anymore. So you might be limited to roaming and wifi / wifi calling.

Now that the merger is complete, and T-mobile intends to move all B41 over to N41 and turn off LTE on it, I doubt they would be releasing any new B41 femtocells. T-mobile has femtocells that I think use B2 or B4/66, but I doubt they would give you one, and I'm not sure if "roaming" would even work on it yet.

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