My Wires-X node for the 145.29 repeater has been running the new v2.0 Wires-X software for several weeks with no issues. It was running in “compatibility” mode, such that any user could access the room #21704. I had no issues with it.
One of the advantages of v2.0, was that the FT1X transceiver would work with Wires-X. Which could possibly be thousands of users. The underneath the hood major change was going to IP6. This could help Starlink users, users with ISPs that use CGNAT (shared IP4 address), or users who wanted more than 1 Wires-X node on their home network.
In theory, if a room owner updated their node/room, and was running compatibility mode, most users could access the node with no issues. It still was somewhat of a messy situation, but there seemed to be a path for keeping everything working.
The problem becomes much messier if most room owners do not upgrade. Then only users running the older version (v1.5x) will be able to see those rooms. Users running the newer version (v2.0) would not see the older rooms.
Generally, many users saw no advantage to upgrade. Just a few minor features were added. In North America, the busiest room is KC-Wide. They initially upgraded, then went back to v1.5x due to reported issues. Not sure what they were, but being one of the busiest rooms, it certainly would be a stress case.
Many others just followed the “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” rule, and saw no reason to upgrade.
KC-Wide stated that Yaesu was unwilling to help them unless they disconnected all other networks from KC-Wide, which they were unwilling to do.
So the worst case scenario has occurred, two different Wires-X networks unable to talk to each other. Yaesu has managed to give fuel to their detractors who believe that proprietary technology is the wrong way to go. They also don’t not appear to engage with their customers and users when making these kinds of drastic changes.
With no simple solution seen on the horizon, I have reverted back to Wires-X version 1.57. Connection via the 145.29 repeater should now be available again to the popular rooms.
A reminder, this Wires-X node is intended for limited use. It is usually connected to the RADnet room and bridged to XLX927. It is not intended for being used as a personal Wires-X gateway. A personal PDN node is recommended for that purpose.
That said, occasional use to connect to other rooms is OK, especially for mobile users. Be sure to disconnect from any room you switch to.
