Personally I like the Courier. Now, Brandon claims I've recommended
Sportsters. I'd like to see those letters since I would certainly not
intentionally tell people to use them. And I know that I have stated,
many times, that they aren't a good idea for an ISP.
Aside from the Courier, IMHO other 'high end' modems seem to have periods
where they are fantastic, then something is changed and they don't work.
*shrug*
>Or do you recommend larger rackmount systems?
If you really have a large number of lines, a Microcom or USR rack might
be a good idea. (I'd personally avoid MultiTech racks.)
>It seems to me that the more logical way to go is perhaps full digital,
>like the Ascend MAX or perhaps the Livingston.
Well, we'd like to think so - hence the PM-3. With something like the PM-3,
ignoring the ISDN for a moment, you get the modems in one integral unit,
no cable mess, and less power consumption. It is a fully digital data path,
no digital-to-analog conversion, the modems' code is part of the operating
system so upgrading is one step. If a DSP goes bad you can busy it out
and the box will just skip it - or you can busy out lines to limit the
number of analog calls if you wish. It is all managed at one point, even
with a managed rack you have the rack and the comm server.
And, of course, you get ISDN.
I was amused that Brandon thinks Ascend is such a threat, when in the
same post he whined about the price on the PM-3 per port being to high...
Ascend's solution is around $425 per port with the ISP pricing, you
can't take analog calls on all the lines (96 lines, only 72 modems),
and personally I don't think the OS is half as good as ComOS.
I fail to see how Ascend is a major problem, it is just hot air.
-MZ
-- Livingston Enterprises - Chair, Department of Interstitial Affairs Phone: 800-458-9966 510-426-0770 FAX: 510-426-8951 megazone@livingston.com For support requests: support@livingston.com <http://www.livingston.com/> Snail mail: 6920 Koll Center Parkway #220, Pleasanton, CA 94566 See me in person: Internet Expo, Boston, MA, October 16-17, Booth 422 ;-)