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MarkRPenn · 04-30-2008, 04:53 AM

I've been trying to get some proper help from iRex support since 5th February, relating to my issue here, but with no joy.

Finally, with the intervension of the UK reseller, I had an e-mail last night from their Service Manager, Thom, with some very interesting revelations:

1) He claims they used to accept returns even when they knew they didn't have required parts, and that that was the reason for the delay's, but that they don't do that anymore. One assumes that the delay overall is still the same, just that while they wait for parts YOU have the iLiad, not them? How do they know what parts they'll need before they examine your iLiad? How many different spare parts can they possibly need to stock for a device like this?

2) The iLiad is only compatible with wifi channels 1 and 11, or at least if you have trouble, those are the most likely to work. Obviously that's very limiting if, like me, you need to use another channel in order to avoid interference (that being the reason for having a choice of channels in the first place). As it happens, my iLiad is fine on channel 6 (but see below), so maybe he's being over cautious. It could also be a translation issue, as his actual words were "access point channel is 1 or 11 (12, 13 are not supported)". Maybe he meant "channel is 1 to 11..."

3) The iLiad doesn't like wifi security. He suggests that having it turned on may be the cause of my connectivity issues. Again, as it happens, my iLiad is OK with security, but it's worrying that they think it may be dodgy.

4) This is the killer I think: The iLiad is not compatible with N enabled routers, no matter what setting you have it on. This turns out to be my issue, as I can connect to a G access point and also my Dad's G router, but not to ANY N router I've tried, even if set to G mode.

OK, so you could say that it's a G device so I should expect issues connecting it to an N router, or that N is new and un-finalised so as an early adopter it's my fault, but the fact is that ALL my numerous other G devices connect without issue, that whether or not it's "official" yet, N is widely adopted (my local PC superstore sells little BUT N routers), and above all, that a) there should be a clear warning somewhere, and b) this should have been the first question tech support asked me when I got in touch back in early Feb.

Finally, someone else's comment elsewhere that if you want to reply to an existing ticket, you should open a new one and not think they'll read e-mails seams to be official now, if I'm understanding their English correctly. This is the automatic e-mail I got when I replied to Thom:

"Dear customer,

For technical assistance, please visit http://support.irexnet.com/. In case you wish to contact iRex Techsupport please create a ticket at http://support.irexnet.com/ or contact us by phone.

Kind regards,

iRex Technologies"

Does that mean they didn't get my reply? They should enter the 100m vagueness competition at the Beijing Olympics I reckon.

Mark

Edit: Turns out they now have a new system, which allows tickets to be updated online, but which is NOT updated by replies you send to their e-mails (it used to be - I can see all my old replies, which they totally ignored, in the system). However, their e-mails DON'T tell you this, or give you a link to the system, so you only know about it if you do a load of digging.

On the plus side, I guess this all means they are trying to sort out their support system. They've a long way to go yet though.

04-30-2008, 04:53 AM	#1
MarkRPenn Connoisseur Posts: 83 Karma: 29 Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Portsmouth, UK Device: Irex Iliad	Interesting Admissions From Support I've been trying to get some proper help from iRex support since 5th February, relating to my issue here, but with no joy. Finally, with the intervension of the UK reseller, I had an e-mail last night from their Service Manager, Thom, with some very interesting revelations: 1) He claims they used to accept returns even when they knew they didn't have required parts, and that that was the reason for the delay's, but that they don't do that anymore. One assumes that the delay overall is still the same, just that while they wait for parts YOU have the iLiad, not them? How do they know what parts they'll need before they examine your iLiad? How many different spare parts can they possibly need to stock for a device like this? 2) The iLiad is only compatible with wifi channels 1 and 11, or at least if you have trouble, those are the most likely to work. Obviously that's very limiting if, like me, you need to use another channel in order to avoid interference (that being the reason for having a choice of channels in the first place). As it happens, my iLiad is fine on channel 6 (but see below), so maybe he's being over cautious. It could also be a translation issue, as his actual words were "access point channel is 1 or 11 (12, 13 are not supported)". Maybe he meant "channel is 1 to 11..." 3) The iLiad doesn't like wifi security. He suggests that having it turned on may be the cause of my connectivity issues. Again, as it happens, my iLiad is OK with security, but it's worrying that they think it may be dodgy. 4) This is the killer I think: The iLiad is not compatible with N enabled routers, no matter what setting you have it on. This turns out to be my issue, as I can connect to a G access point and also my Dad's G router, but not to ANY N router I've tried, even if set to G mode. OK, so you could say that it's a G device so I should expect issues connecting it to an N router, or that N is new and un-finalised so as an early adopter it's my fault, but the fact is that ALL my numerous other G devices connect without issue, that whether or not it's "official" yet, N is widely adopted (my local PC superstore sells little BUT N routers), and above all, that a) there should be a clear warning somewhere, and b) this should have been the first question tech support asked me when I got in touch back in early Feb. Finally, someone else's comment elsewhere that if you want to reply to an existing ticket, you should open a new one and not think they'll read e-mails seams to be official now, if I'm understanding their English correctly. This is the automatic e-mail I got when I replied to Thom: "Dear customer, For technical assistance, please visit http://support.irexnet.com/. In case you wish to contact iRex Techsupport please create a ticket at http://support.irexnet.com/ or contact us by phone. Kind regards, iRex Technologies" Does that mean they didn't get my reply? They should enter the 100m vagueness competition at the Beijing Olympics I reckon. Mark Edit: Turns out they now have a new system, which allows tickets to be updated online, but which is NOT updated by replies you send to their e-mails (it used to be - I can see all my old replies, which they totally ignored, in the system). However, their e-mails DON'T tell you this, or give you a link to the system, so you only know about it if you do a load of digging. On the plus side, I guess this all means they are trying to sort out their support system. They've a long way to go yet though. Last edited by MarkRPenn; 04-30-2008 at 09:26 AM.