> Can you tell that Capella is upset they are no longer able to sell
> Livingston direct? I got this mail from our local Capella guy trying to
> sell USR Total Control hubs. It's obvious he did not do his homework.
> It's amazing how when Capella is selling Livingston "They're Great!",
> but when their not "They Suck!". Pathetic!
Wow.. I think I'll add my comments for kicks, whoever wrote this had no
clue. Funny stuff and I feel like complaining :)
> 1) I can do 33.6K with my PM3's.
> 2) Home many times have you had to hot swap out digital modem cards? Me?
> None! Or are you telling me I should be ready to hot swap out USR cards? Hmmmm
> 3) You have to swap out the modems to upgrade to 56K? So what? It's a
> free upgrade for Livingston and it takes two seconds!
Agreed.
> on and on and on... I'll stop here, I don't have time to correct someone
> who should know better!
>
> ------------------------------------
>
> P.S. In case you think you are convinced that the Portmaster 3 is what
> you want, think again. I have been a Livingston fan for years, and the
> portmaster 3 looks promising but is the new kid on the block and it's
> not all sunshine. Here is some info you should consider below, namely
> you only get 28.8 today, and you must change out EVERY modem to get 56K
> when it's available.
So?
Pretty much every product has to do this anyway. But with Livingston it
is a free and painless upgrade, and they ship you the new cards and give
you 21 days to do it - before you have to send the old cards back!
> ************************* Portmaster 3 info ***************************
>
> Strategy for Supporting 56K Modem Technology
>
> Lucent Technologies to acquire 56Kbps code when available from Lucent,
> Livingston doesn't really understand the key element to their PortMaster
> 3 product - the modem technology. There's also the integration and test
Yes they do.
> internal expertise you need to accomplish that task reliably. The issue
> it comes down to is: U.S. Robotics owns the modem code and the
> intellectual property that goes with that ownership; Livingston does
> not.
So? 99% of vendors don't own the full rights to their modem code.
> No 33.6Kbps Modem Support Today
> Again, because Livingston does not take ownership of their modem
> technology, the PortMaster 3 modems only support 28.8K today. There is
> no support for 33.6K (V.34+) technology.
Wrong. 33.6k support was added very soon after the PM3 was released in
ComOS v3.5c2.
> Hot Swappability Caveats
> Although the PortMaster 3 claims the modem cards are hot swappable,
Claims? Not only do they claim it, but it's true.
> customers have to do so from the back of the unit. In contrast, for a
So what? If you have to swap modem cards that often you can mount the
unit the other way so everything sticks out the front. I prefer the nice
clean front myself.
> Very Limited System Modularity and Expandability
> solely to modem card updates. The gateway, router, management and trunk
> interface functions are all integral to the system and cannot be
> migrated to new platforms in the future. Thus, the deployed
> infrastructure of Livingston PortMaster 3's would require fork-lift
> upgrades for those customers seeking to migrate to higher system
That's why the motherboard slides right out like the modem cards. Easy to
upgrade and keep the other parts if you wish.
> densities, new gateways, enhanced router engines or the like. For
> example, the PortMaster 3 utilizes an Intel 486 microprocessor running
> at 66MHz for routing as well as main system processing. While this may
> be fine for today's system requirements, there is no method to upgrade
> this processor engine without replacing the PortMaster 3 case with
> whatever next generation product Livingston develops.
The new generation products they develop will have bigger processors
themselves.
> No Support for VPNs
I have heard that this is in the works.
> Reliability Issues
> System reliability is clearly an issue. First, Livingston does not test
> to or support Bellcore's NEBS (Network Equipment Building System)
> requirements. NEBS criteria are used to evaluate a product's physical
> characteristics, and its ability to operate as intended under electrical
> and physical environmental stresses, such as electromagnetic
> interference, high and low temperatures, earthquake, and vibration
> conditions. It is also used to assure that equipment does not pose a
> threat to service or personnel, via analyses for fire resistance,
> electrical safety and grounding. These standards are most relevant to
> the telcos, but their fundamentals are of benefit to all customers by
> ensuring improved safety and reliability.
Heheh... Like I want my PM3 operating when there is an earthquake
happening.
> Also, the PortMaster 3 does not support power supply redundancy nor can
> it support gateway redundancy; instead they rely on a single power unit
> and a single gateway respectively. In short, the PortMaster 3 is open to
> single points of failure. While they admonish the system's ability to
> re-route modem traffic from a bad modem port to avoid failure, they fail
> to provide that reliability at a system level. In contrast, the Total
> Control Hub is modular in design and can thereby be configured to
> support system redundancies and thereby eliminate single points of
> failure.
Redundant power supplies are RARELY needed since Livingston uses high
quality ones in the first place instead of two ("redundant") low quality
ones.
> WAN Interface Shortcomings
> channel support to only 24 modems instead of 48 modems. In the Total
> Control Hub, frame relay is supported via a dedicated 1.024Mbps V.35
> interface, preserving chassis capacity.
Wait, is this a router or a terminal server? The second one. No WAN
capabilities needed at all IMHO.
> Livingston Customer Service and Commitment Issues
> Livingston is a privately held corporation who first started to get into
> the remote access market in 1990. In addition, their current sales
> channel is direct and they claim to service over 1,500 ISP's. One has to
> wonder about the level of customer service and commitment from a small
> independent company looking to support them with a small direct sales
> and service staff.
I bet that's 5,000+ these days.
> System Management Issues
> Network management for the PortMaster 3 is limited to PMconsole,
> proprietary Livingston management utility software used to configure and
How is USR's product better? The PM3 supports: Command line interface,
PMconsole, and SNMP.
> Another shortcoming is the PortMaster 3's current inability to support
> modem status via the GUI. This clearly hinders performance monitoring
> and system maintenance for the network operator.
Modem status is lacking in the GUI. Big deal.
> Finally, the PortMaster 3 lacks auto response capabilities, a script
> management feature supported by the Total Control Hub which allows the
> system to be configured to automatically respond to system-detected
> network problems without operator intervention.
Huh? I run these types of scripts on servers. If there is a problem with
the terminal server it can't find its own problem.
> No EdgeServer
> The ability of the PortMaster 3 to support Level II EdgeServer
> capabilities is also lacking. This is an issue for corporate customers
> or service providers who support an NT operating environment and are
> looking to integrate RAS capabilities.
What is this?
> Looks like the PM3 has limited T1 support today
> According to a Livingston note on the PortMaster 3, they indicate that
> the product currently does not support dial-up signaling over
> channelized T1. Although it is not clear exactly what that means, it
> sounds like a potentially major problem for customers. With a definite
> limitation regarding the system's support for digital T1 interfaces,
> this is a real problem for a product which is designed with those
> interfaces in mind.
Who wrote this?? An Idiot? It has supported chan-t1 for a long time and
it is VERY clear what that means.
> No support for analog dial-up
> The PortMaster 3 only offers support for T1 or T1/PRI digital trunk
> interfaces. The system does not offer support for individual analog
> dial-in access over POTs. For those customers looking to start small
> with a modem pool application and then easily and economically migrate
> to digital trunks as their business grows, the PortMaster 3 fails to
> offer this level of flexibility.
Uhh. that is what the PM2 series is for.
> No front panel indicators to help with system troubleshooting The lack
> of front panel indicators on the PortMaster 3 will present some real
> problems for site installers and engineers looking to isolate system
> problems without first accessing the system management interface. Front
> panel LEDs on the Total Control Hub provide a wealth of information at a
> glance.
Woopiedoo. Look on the back.
> Thank you for working with Capella Worldwide Networking, Inc.,
> "Internetworking Specialists" TECHNOLOGY TO THE PROVIDERS
Hah.
> Gregory F. Genge, President; Capella Networking Canada, Inc.
> VP of Sales, Canada; Capella Worldwide Networking, Inc.
> Toll Free 888-ALLEPAC, 888-255-3722
> (403) 571-5000 Main, 5003 Direct, 5005 Fax
> 832 Durham Avenue S.W., Calgary, Alberta, Canada, T2T-5R2
> Email: ggenge@capella.com Web page http://www.agt.net/public/capella/
Get a clue. You're working on lack of, and old, knowledge.
- Steve
- Systems Manager
- Community Internet Access, Inc.
- Gallup and Grants, New Mexico