May 28, 2008 04:51 PM
2782 Views
I have taken a WiMax Internet connection from Reliance Communications on 03-May-2008. They gave a POE(Power over Ethernet) box, which will provide power to their antenna and internet data to my laptop. That POE box busted on 11-May-2008 and damaged my laptop and is dead now. My laptop is a brand new laptop just two months old costing Rs.55, 000/-.
I have requested Reliance Customer Care to send some body to see what really has caused this problem. But they were so negligent they did not help me. For over two weeks I used to call them, send mails everyday, but there will not be any proper response.(A detailed report of this will be even worse than what it sounds like, but I just made it simple for the readers’ convenience)
Finally, I called the Nodal Officer for help but without doing any sort of investigation they closed my compliant saying that their instrument did not cause the damage and it would have happened due to voltage fluctuation and Reliance is not responsible for it.
And my house is equipped with Circuit breaker and Fuse to cut the power in case of voltage fluctuation and we have proper earthing also. And also I have Spike buster or Surge Protector to which POE, my laptop and my speakers are connected. Nothing happened to my laptop power adapter or Speaker adapter but only POE burnt. And my TV which was ON at that time is also working fine. If voltage fluctuation would have been the reason, then my TV, Speaker adapter and my Laptop adapter also would have been dead by now. I feel this is injustice; they are simply not ready to take responsibility to solve my problem.
The POE which they gave has actually shorted and sent raw power to the network adapter of the laptop. So the RJ-45 cable, which goes into the laptop actually melted and jammed inside the laptop itself and it is not coming out. I could also get burnt smell from the laptop.
Bursting of POEs being a truth(It has happened for so many) let this be a warning for all. Who ever opts for WiMax which uses POE, ask the service provider to do something to ensure the safety of our end products.
There are POEs equipped with overload and short-circuit protection available in the world, you can refer to this link.
Pacwireless.com - POE with overload and short-circuit protection
This safety is actually a standard specified by IEEE - 802.3af for POEs. This standard recommends a POE to have short-circuit and over-load protection.
But the service providers are negligent about the safety of our end devices, so they are giving sub-standard products which are spoiling our laptops. Do not accept any POEs which do not fully comply with this standard. And ensure the safety of your costly devices.
I require everybody’s suggestions on this issue and enable me to get compensation for the loss incurred.
