Mitel 5340 DHCP Discovery Fails 3

[mikeborschow]

We have some Mitel 5340 Phones that we set to work in both MiNET and SIP mode. For no apparent reason, the phones have stopped working when connected via the POE/Phone Ethernet port. Through a series of trial and error attempts to bring the phones back to life, we have discovered that if we feed POE only (no data!!!) to the primary port and then connect the data to the PC port, the phone works.

Any clue as to why? More important, does anybody know how to get the phones to work using the single POE port for both power and data?

 

[Supernova99]

I suspect that there is not enough power on your ethernet switch
How are you supplying the PoE?
Is this via a in-line PSU or via a PoE switch?
If it is via the switch have you tried an in-line PSU?


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[dryaquaman]

When you try to boot the phone normally, does it ever get an IP and then release it and then try to get another?

You can try a couple of test
- put the phone in Teleworker mode and then boot.
- connect a phone to a switch port that is programmed with the voice vlan as it's native vlan.

If when in teleworker mode it works and then not when plugged directly to the voice vlan then check the switch port on your DHCP server and be sure it doesn't have access to the voice vlan (unless it's handing out IP's for both)

Dry Aquaman.

 

[mikeborschow]

We first suspected POE as a potential issue, but it is not. We did try several POE switches as well as inline PSU. Other phones without the problem work fine in all trials, but these particular phones do not.

When trying to boot normally, the phone never gets an IP address the first time.

We are not using VLAN on the phones because they have a dedicated hard wired network (and switches) that is not shared with office network.

Intended use for phones as SIP phone, not MiNet. None-the-less, we did try to go the Teleworker route (we have spare licenses not being used on our teleworker) and that did not seem to work either without wiring in workaround mode which is to send power in the standard POE Ethernet port and Data via the PC port... then everything works fine. (Note: but fails if there is any data on the POE side, it must be power only).

As the intended use is for SIP, we updated to firmware provided by a Mitel dealer, 01.06.00.13 - we don't have contact with that dealer anymore, but would appreciate any leads to any dealers that have experience with SIP and can get the proper firmware for these and other model Mitel phones. We have a branch office that we're using Asterisk instead of the 3300. It works REALLY WELL with the 5224s and 5212s but we seem to have hit a road bump with the 5340s.

 

[Supernova99]

The firware is the latest SIP load for the 5340
Maybe these phones are actually faulty, Have these phones been subject to a power surge?
Putting the data into the computer port would normally not work.


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[mikeborschow]

The phones may have been subject to power surges, but there would have been others that would have been subject to the same surge(s). Of course it makes sense that they would not all be damaged if it was a power surge.

These phones are the only phones with the new SIP firmware and they are the only phones with the problem, that said however, one of the three phones had the problem prior to updating the firmware, the other two did not.

Our experience with the Mitel phones --- they're great phones. Between the controller and the phones, comparing to market competition, the phones far outshine the 3300 controller (in our humble opinion).

We're open to any other suggestions and still would be interested in referrals to Mitel Dealers that are familiar with the SIP side of the Mitel phones.

Thanks for your contributions and comments to date, please continue to point us in directions, we will continue to be responsive and post what works and does not work.

 

[Supernova99]

I forgot to ask have you tried putting the phones back to MiNet?
If they work in MiNet mode then that would lead us to suspect the SIP firmware is to blame.
If it is in both modes then I would suspect a faulty handset

Share what you know - Learn what you don't

 

[mikeborschow]

We have tried to put the phones in MiNet. Again, they require power only through the phone ethernet jack and data through the PC jack. But, work great on the 3300 just as they work great with SIP... but require the odd connection.

 

[LoopyLou]

Not sure I understand you in regards to how the phone is connected ( and I apologize for that ). The phone should only need a connection to the jack on the bottom next to the handset cord. The cable goes from the bottom to your layer 2 switch port. The jack directly on the back is only for connecting a PC. If you are saying that the phone only works when you have a PC connected to the back then I would say you still have a PoE issue. The phone during boot advertises its power specs to the layer 2 switch port. If its not doing that correctly there might not be enough power being supplied until a PC connected.

The single biggest problem with communications is the illusion that it has taken place.

 

[mikeborschow]

LoopyLou, thanks for your post. You are 100% correct regarding the info you posted. That's how the majority of our phones are connected. The phones that we are having problems with will not work when connected properly as you described. In order for them to work we must send power only to the port that you mentioned, no data, just power and nothing else. Then with the PC port, it is connected to the network with all the other phones and controlled by the 3300 controller. If we try to feed the data with the POE, these phones fail. If we feed data in both ports, they fail. By using other phones that don't have the problem, we have been able to rule out any issues with the POE switches, with stand alone PSUs, etc.

 

[RossBC]

this may sound a little strange, but have you tried a new non-mitel patch cord?

we have had several of the new shorter black patch cords that come with the 53xx phones fail. most are out of box failure, some work for about a week.
the symptom is "DHCP discovery". the phone gets power but no ethernet. if plugged into a HP POE switch, you will notice the connection light does not come on.

 

[mikeborschow]

RossBC...

Tried several differnt cables this evening after reading your post. Actually had fingers crossed, but must have been crossed the wrong way ... different cables, different lengths, different brands ... did not help. However, this is good to know to test other phones in the future.

 

[Sharkman2011]

I have this EXACT same problem with a single 5340 in our network. Precise duplication to Mike's comments. I would add that this phone worked previously for years- and just started doing this- it is not a patch cord issue, nor a DHCP issue- some type of hardware/software change in the phone that caused it to stop responding to network requests on the POE port.

It must be some type of known issue- until I saw this post I figured the phone was 'bricked', but it can still function albeit with two cables, but at least it saves me from throwing it in the trash. Anyone have any ideas what causes/caused this?