The PhoneBoy Blog

Even PhoneBoy Can’t Fix Hardware Problems

05 Mar 2009

I recently went through the trouble of installing a Nokia IP260 as a firewall at home. It was one of the only machines I felt I could keep running in my office for any length of time and not cringe at the fan noise being thrown off. Clearly, our security appliances are not designed for home installation

Unfortunately, the IP260 I had been using decided to die. Again. The unit had been sent to our repair facility on two separate occasions for repair for the same problem: won’t even get to the boot manager. As a software guy, there’s not a whole lot I can do about hardware problems

The method they make employees follow is the “Return and Repair” method. We ship the box to the repair facility, they fix it and send it back to us. The only time a customer would ever follow this process is if their box is not covered by a support agreement. Otherwise, most direct customers get Advanced Replacement or on-site replacement, depending on your purchased support agreement.

The good news is that this unit should be scrapped and I’ll get a (like) new unit to replace it. I also can run R65 now instead of R62. The bad news? I have to listen to the whine of the fans of an IP390 for a while.

Update: Our Service Parts guy told me they are going to overnight me a unit. I can scrap the unit myself. Spare parts FTW!