Members of the ISP-Tech list discuss options at the very bottom of the market for remote access servers. There are a lot of cheap options but there are also many considerations to ponder before you buy.

[January 27, 2003]

On the ISP-Tech list in January, DP asked

"I have a Livingston PortMaster 3 (PM3) that is going bad (I think) and I want to replace it with something newer, the PM3s are starting to get pretty old. Does anyone have suggestions?"

[BB tersely replied] "Cisco AS5200s. They're great."

[DP responded] "Thanks for the info, but I don't think I've got the budget for that right now. Let me ask another question: Which is better, PM3 or ASCEND Max 4048?"

Some had specific prejudices.

[PM said] "We run all Cisco As5300's now (replaced our PM3s), but I vote for PM3. I just plain dislike the Max."

[TH noted] "We run almost all Cisco stuff and are just now getting into the Max platform (because we got so many from an ISP buyout). They are definitely cheaper. I have not had much experience running them yet in the four months that we have owned them but the setup has been easy enough to get started on. Of course I am only setting up my first one from scratch as these were all configured when we bought the ISP they were sitting in."

[DH said] "We use 3Com Total Controls and are very pleased with them."

DP returned with a further question:

"Thanks to all who have answered. I hate to keep beating you up for more information, but I'm in a jam and I haven't research this before. I inherited a PM3 about three years ago, and just over the past couple of days it's started acting up. I don't know for sure that it's the PM3 but I don't have a backup so I don't have anything else to test the PRIs with. All I do know is the audible PPP handshake sounds funny, and about every third connection attempt fails with a "Modem not responding error." I'm not all that familiar with remote access servers (RAS) and I've only got about a thousand dollar budget, so I'm trying research the most cost effective solution in about five nanoseconds (which is, yes, not a very good idea). I found an ASCEND Max 6000 on ebay with 48 modems that's within my budget. Can anyone recommend the Max 6000?"

[ed. note: both ASCEND and Livingston were acquired by Lucent Technologies.]

[DD suggested] "You've probably got a bad modem card. Jake at portmasters.com probably has a replacement. If it's a modem card it should be fairly easy to find. The first PRI hunts the first three cards (if they are all installed) and the second one hunts the last three. If you get along with the guys at the local telco CO you can get them to trace a call if you have to see which PRI it hit. You can also turn on debug and figure out which modem is the problem. Jake has all the old Lucent and Livingston documents on his site."

IP concluded with advice and a question that was not answered:

"Most people prefer the 6000's over the 4000's mainly due to the stronger power supply. . . so go for the 6000's if you can afford them. That said, there's really nothing terribly wrong with the 4000's, and the bare chassis are so cheap (sub $100) on ebay that it's pretty painless to keep a pile of spares around. Also, don't put more than three modem cards on the 4000's (the 6000's can handle six modem cards).

Regarding the modems, it's preferable to go with the mx-sl-16mod-s56's. Max modem cards came in a variety of flavors over the years, ie 8, 12, and 16 modem count, some only doing v.34, and the s56's going to v.90 speeds. Of course you must keep in mind that all this stuff is end of the line, and v.90 is the end of the road for the Maxen.

I wouldn't be afraid of them, they really are great boxes if you treat them right, and don't overload the 4000's. Of course, this one I'm trying to hang off a channelized T-1 line is giving me fits, but that's my own ignorance showing. They're about a 5 minute config if you're bringing in PRI's. Anyone got a working config dump for a channelized T-1 line into a Max 4000 or 6000 they want to send me?"

—End