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SPA 941 Firmware updates?

demonuk
Level 1
Level 1

Is there going to be any more updates for the (formerly Linksys) SPA-941? - The last firmware is 5.1.8 which is very old and missing a lot of the features of the newer firmware (such as LDAP searches) that is available for the 9x2 series.

TIA :)

10 Replies 10

Alberto Montilla
Cisco Employee
Cisco Employee

Dear Sir;

SPA9X1 are our entry-level business IP Phones. Their feature set will not evolve (no new features are expected on this series) from what's existing today (5.1.8). For LDAP and other features we recommend the SPA9X2 product family, which is our mainstream SIP Small Business IP phones family. Price different is not big if you consider the hardware and feature set differences.

Regards and thanks for your comments;

That is not a very good answer. We purchased the SPA941 phone because we didn't need the ethernet bridge, not just because of the price difference. The SPA941 was considered for most endpoints, while SPA942 was considered for endpoints where the bridge functionality was needed.

We believed the models to be much identical besides the bridge, and we believed that the product family would be supported as a whole, as a cheaper small business alternative to the Cisco phones. We never imagined that Linksys/Cisco would abandon parts of the product family like this.

Dear Sir;

I understand your concerns, however, although the products look similar, their features are not similar as they are designed to different target users. If you require the larger feature set supported on the SPA9X2 families, I suggest that going forward you select SPA9X2 as your target product line. SPA9X1 phones are considered basic phones. It is not a question of abandoning the product line, but rather of positioning. Different product families are targetting different user requirement levels.

Regards and we appreciate your feedback;

Alberto

Can you direct me to a current product literature that highlights the difference between the SPA942 and the SPA941 with respect to firmware version 6 ?

06 Mar 2009 -

www.cisco.com/en/US/docs/voice_ip_comm/csbpipp/ip_phones/administration/guide/spa_9X1_admin.pdf Adobe PDF - 3410KB

http://www.cisco.com/en/US/prod/collateral/voicesw/ps6788/phones/ps10033/ps10039/data_sheet_c78-502079.html

Page 31,describes the 942:

  "The SPA942 is similar to the SPA941, but provides two Ethernet ports for connecting to the LAN and supports Power over Ethernet (see Figure
2-6). The PA100 power supply must be ordered separately if you are not using a PoE switch. See the table for SPA941."

But apparently this is for firmware 5.

Hi,

Great question: "Can you direct me to a current product literature that highlights the difference between the SPA942 and the SPA941 with respect to firmware version 6 ?"

The last firmware release for the SPA9x1 phones was 5.1.8, except for the SPA901 which was 5.1.5.

The SPA9x2 phones up to 5.1.8 shared features with the SPA9x1 phones.

Since then the SPA9x2 phones have had 2 feature releases, 5.2 and 6.1. These new features are described in the 5.2 and 6.1 release notes which are available at Cisco.com

There are physical differences between the SPA9x1 and SPA9x2 phones, these differences are not firmware related.

In addition, SPA9x1 phones have:

  • No 10/100 switch port [need an extra cable run, one for phone, one for computer]
  • No back light
  • No PoE support [hence the need for a power supply]
  • Lower powered CPU

Regards,

Patrick

----------

So the product feature set is only documented in the firmware release notes,

inside of a zip file,

in a registration-required part of the website.


Wow.

If only the datasheets were as transparent and up-to-date as this forum,

I wouldn't be filling out an RMA request with our retailer!

Hi,

It reads like you have a suggestion about how we can better communicate features.
Please describe in as much detail as possible what information you'd like to see and where you'd like to see it.

I'll make sure that the product manager is aware of your suggestion/s.

Can you provide more information about what you mean with respect to the RMA request please?

Thanks for taking the time to let us know how we can improve.

Regards,

Patrick

----------

VERY POOR SHOW CISCO!

I too bought some SPA941 in the belief that the only difference was no PoE or Ethernet Switch. NOWHERE in the advertising literature for the SPA941 does it mention that the two phones are intended for different markets! Cisco would do well to heed the proverb "Once bitten, twice shy" !



I have experienced the same frustration.  When comparing the phones, the only difference I found between the two models after extensive research was no POE and no Ethernet Bridge on the 941.  Then, when I go and udpate firmware, I realize that the firmware developement for the 941 has stopped while the 942 is still active.  If I had known that, I would have purchased the 942.  I purchased 14 941's and am now stuck with them.  This is a bit upsetting considering my new $1200+ investment is now outdated.  I only found out about this through reading the support forums.

This should be made clear in all the product specification literature printed out there.

ChrisCogdon
Level 1
Level 1

I won't go so far as saying "poor show cisco", but I think you (Cisco) should make it clearer in product documentation that there are more differences between the 9x1 and 9x2 series than PoE and a 2nd port.

I suspect that pre 5.1, these were essentially the only differences, but as you continue to develop the software, the feature set has diverged and the product literature has not been modified to keep up. THIS is the part that should be addressed.

Fortunately, we went with the 942s, because we already have a PoE switch and having a "spare port" on the desktop seemed useful. I would have been FAR quicker to go with the 942s if we knew that there was a longer feature upgrade path.

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