Here is something else to consider -
According to very recent figures, for the first 6 months of this year, going
by numbers of ports shipped, Livingston has ~29% of the market, Cisco has
~40%, Shiva is thrid qith ~9% - everyone else is lower than that.
And since there will always be some percentage of users with problems, I
you can't just judge by numerics alone. IN general most of our users never
call in for support. I've worked in support both here and at Xylogics -which
obviously is ranked below Shiva- and in similar sized support structures the
load was close to the same. But Livingston has *MANY* times the number of
ports/units in the field.
What that tells me is that a much lower percentage of our users have problems.
My direct experience with the product confirms that.
>Has the reliability of the PM2ER improved over time (ie. Has Livingston
>been reponsive and fixed the problems)?
Comparing the two products I have direct experience with:
PMs are more reliable overall.
Livingston has been much faster to fix problems and respond to trouble reports
(What was it, one day before the telnet break was patched? *NEVER* would
have happened that fast where I was, a week if you were lucky.)
Fewer problems show up in the first place.
Most of the users who run into trouble are pushing the limits of the unit,
that is to be expected. And we try to repsond to that by moving the limits
further out in the next release.
>Should I find something else to use instead as an integrated terminal
>server and router combonation? I know about the Cisco 2509 and 2511
>products, are there others?
Actually, that's all that comes to mind off of the top of my head. But
you are also looking at a big price differential there - last I checked.
(BTW, it's no secret Livingston OEMs for Cisco.)
-MZ
-- Livingston Enterprises Technical Support Phone: 800-458-9966 FAX: 510-426-8951 support@livingston.com <http://www.livingston.com/> 6920 Koll Center Parkway #220, Pleasanton, CA 94566