Equipment Support > Hardware By Brand > ZyXEL > Z5 hit with power outage, blinking lights

Z5 hit with power outage, blinking lights

is the VFG6005N any good?

You need to define what features you need. If you do not need a VPN endpoint then I would suggest you consider the NETGEAR WNDR4500 that will deliver excellent results.

reply to jig
You can still try to revive the Z5.

1) Check the power supply or try another one.

2) If the power supply is good reset to factory defaults (hold down the HW reset button for 10 seconds).

3) If that doesn't work connect console cable. If you get connected to boot rom then re-flash the firmware via the RS232 cable (check the manual how to do it).

If the power supply is OK and you can't connect to boot rom via console then I'd say the unit is dead.

thanks everyone - it looks as though the power outage revealed a bad or getting-bad UPS. I think the voltage was low (bad battery?) when I tried to test before, but now that the power is solidly back up (they had to replace a few transformers in the area), the z5 seems to be working as it was before. there was one glitch yesterday - it looked as though the z5 didn't renew the dhcp lease automatically when the lease was up or something, but i don't think it will be a continuing problem. it was strange, though... everything worked fine from about 9am to 6pm, and then all of a sudden traffic was being dropped, even though the z5 showed the WAN was up with the old IPA. i forced renew and everything went back up fine. i'll have to check again tonight.

that aside, if i was going to replace the z5, it would be for something with at least as many features as the z5, but hopefully with a few new features and some added performance that might be accessible with a FTTH connection.

the VFG6005N has some interesting new features (backup WWAN) and looks to have at least the features of the z5 with some added performance and WLAN. but, at least one review says something about not supporting IPv6 (not a big deal) and possibly never supporting it (maybe a problem). the performance reviews were generally positive, but some well-articulated reviews indicated some stability problems. so, i was wondering if anyone had some experience with it. it's fairly inexpensive, and i think i can pick one up at the local Fry's if I have a problem (funny thing, the local Fry's is about a block away from a Zyxel factory/shipping stop).

oh - i should mention that i bought the z5 originally for its VPN features, stability, my general familiarity with the OS, and the fact that it was fanless. i noticed that the zw 20/20w both have fans, and it looks as though all the other zywall offerings also have fans. i didn't see whether the VFG6005N has a fan. being fanless is a fairly big deal for me. fans tend to die early deaths in our area, and i'd rather not install a core network device that is dependent on one.

again, thank you for the help (i'll keep in mind the test procedure if i get the blinks again), and thank you for any input on the VFG6006N and/or fanless zywalls.
--
Catapultam habeo. Nisi pecuniam omnem mihi dabis, ad caput tuum saxum immane mittam.

reply to jig
Just keep in mind that theh V series are aimed pretty narrowly for VPN and high bandwidth and are not homegrown products like the USG series.

reply to jig
I'm pretty sure the USG50 doesn't have a fan; if it does it is remarkably quiet and well hidden.

kirby

»static.us.zyxel.com/landing_page···dex.html

this page says something about a smart fan... still looking though.
--
Catapultam habeo. Nisi pecuniam omnem mihi dabis, ad caput tuum saxum immane mittam.

I have owned a USG50 for over a year and it does not have a fan.

Read this thread »USG series FW 3.00 Comparison ... various models and FAN info is mentioned there

reply to rpht
seems strange that a 20 would have a fan and a 50 wouldn't.

the above link is not so good. you have to click on the green button, then on the view more info button that shows up. then you get the below.

still looking for a review that i thought mentioned something about a fan and the 50.

---------------------
The ZyWALL USG 50/20/20W are the first security products incorporating ZyXEL's green features in their design. By detecting temperature, link status and traffic with dynamic adjustment of power consumption, ZyWALL USG 50/20/20W help business reduce up to 80% power consumption.
Power Saving by Traffic

ZyXEL IntelliEnergy Green Technology can automatically detect the network traffic for dynamic adjustment of power consumption accordingly. Lower traffic requires less power.
Power Saving by Smart Fan

When your network is busy at work, your device temperature is high and consume considerable amounts of power. ZyXEL IntelliEnergy Green Technology can automatically detect device temperature and automatically adjust speed of fan to reduce power consumption.
--
Catapultam habeo. Nisi pecuniam omnem mihi dabis, ad caput tuum saxum immane mittam.

Re-read this post »USG series FW 3.00 Comparison

It has all the fan info you're looking for.
USG20/20W have different CPU than 50/100/200 thus the different fan requirements.

USG 50/100/200 have no fans
USG 20W has one fan
USG 20 unsure but same CPU as 20W thus relatively safe to assume the fan is there

reply to jig
ZyXEL sometimes makes cut and paste errors in building documents for its many USG models, so a misplaced fan description is not a surprise. The 2.21 Ed.4 User Guide for the USG 50 refers to multiple WANs in one place (Figure 8), but the 50 is only designed for two WANs.

kirby

reply to Brano
that post seems to say that the 20 and the 50 have the same CPU... or at least they have the same series CPUs, whereas the 100/200/300 have a different manufacturer's CPU.

also, Anav mentions that the 100/200 all have fans.

strange. i trust you brano, just seeing conflicting info in that thread.

anyway, i'm still seeing the problem with my z5 now periodically losing connection with my modem (i think), which requires me to manually renew the dhcp license before i can connect out onto the WAN. i've tried the "ip arp gratuitous on" command mentioned here »z5 - override the WAN DHCP Lease time , but it hasn't worked. i thought that might be the issue, since i'm pretty sure that command gets lost when there's a power cycle.

there were no problems before the power outage. sigh.

i suppose now is as good a time as any to update the firmware - i'm still on 4.00 xd.2. any hints as to whether updating the firmware will help a problem like this?

Thanks all.
--
Catapultam habeo. Nisi pecuniam omnem mihi dabis, ad caput tuum saxum immane mittam.

here are the log entries from the modem (not the z5 - those don't appear to be helpful)

Date Time Event ID Event Level Description
***** 20000200 3 No Ranging Response received - T3 time-out
7/3/2012 20:32 20000400 3 Received Response to Broadcast Maintenance Request, but no Unicast Maintenance opportunities received - T4 timeout
7/3/2012 20:32 17000100 3 SYNC Timing Synchronization failure - Failed to acquire QAM/QPSK symbol timing
7/3/2012 21:02 12 3 Modem Failed to Register - Resetting Between Scan Attempts
***** 20000200 3 No Ranging Response received - T3 time-out
***** 13000300 5 DHCP WARNING - Non-critical field invalid in response
7/3/2012 21:25 1040100 6 TLV-11 - unrecognized OID
7/3/2012 23:04 20000400 3 Received Response to Broadcast Maintenance Request, but no Unicast Maintenance opportunities received - T4 timeout
7/3/2012 23:04 17000100 3 SYNC Timing Synchronization failure - Failed to acquire QAM/QPSK symbol timing
7/3/2012 23:09 20000200 3 No Ranging Response received - T3 time-out
7/3/2012 23:10 13000300 5 DHCP WARNING - Non-critical field invalid in response
7/3/2012 23:10 1040100 6 TLV-11 - unrecognized OID
7/5/2012 15:58 20000400 3 Received Response to Broadcast Maintenance Request, but no Unicast Maintenance opportunities received - T4 timeout
7/5/2012 15:58 17000100 3 SYNC Timing Synchronization failure - Failed to acquire QAM/QPSK symbol timing
7/5/2012 15:59 20000200 3 No Ranging Response received - T3 time-out
7/5/2012 16:00 13000300 5 DHCP WARNING - Non-critical field invalid in response
7/5/2012 16:00 1040100 6 TLV-11 - unrecognized OID
7/7/2012 23:39 8010100 4 DHCP RENEW sent - No response for IPv4
7/8/2012 20:31 8010300 5 DHCP RENEW WARNING - Field invalid in response
7/8/2012 20:31 13000300 5 DHCP WARNING - Non-critical field invalid in response
 

reply to jig
The very last Z5 firmware is fixing WAN DHCP issue. You should upgrade.

sorry, is that this one:

File:ZyWALL 5_4.04(XD.9)C0.zip

or this:

ZyWALL 5 UTM_4.04(XD.9)C0.zip

?

i forget whether they're interchangable or not.
is this enough info to tell which version i have? (i think i have the non-utm version):

Firmware Version: V4.00(XD.2) | 10/26/2005
Routing Protocol: IP
Device Mode: Router
Firewall: Enabled
System Time: GMT-08:00
Memory: 7074K/17748K
Sessions: 100/4000

thanks!
--
Catapultam habeo. Nisi pecuniam omnem mihi dabis, ad caput tuum saxum immane mittam.

reply to jig
This one »ftp://ftp2.zyxel.com/ZyWALL_5_UTM/firm···9)C0.zip

reply to jig
My USG50 has no external fan. What I meant is that I haven't opened the housing so I can't be sure that there is no internal fan circulating air internally for thermal dissipation to the housing skin. The USG50 is larger than the USG 20 so it has more surface for heat dissipation.

kirby