When I ran the largest (legacy) dialup ISP in Phoenix in the late 90's (2000+ POTS lines over a couple sites), we ordered huge frames of 66 blocks... like someone else said better for troubleshooting because you could pull the bridge clips to test each side and/or troubleshooting better (or jam pennies between the bridge clips to bypass broken lines when you needed to.) 20 years later moved to rack mounted 110 blocks for the occasional POTS line or T1, way better density and we weren't chasing 30+ broken POTS lines at a time.... they were just customer lines and they could deal with it. :) bill On 4/14/2022 5:42 PM, Grant Taylor via NANOG wrote:
On 4/14/22 2:05 PM, Mike Hammett wrote:
I know I'm discussing what some consider ancient technology. I counter that it meets or exceeds the needs of many, many people.
As people say, "if it isn't broken, don't fix it". -- That being said, I believe the third stanza is missing; "Optimize it."
Currently, we use 100-pr Telect-style termination blocks. They don't offer much in terms of ease of use for testing and don't organize well on a 19" or 23" rack.
I always found the spades (?) of the 66 block to be convenient to clip a test set (with an angled bed of nails) onto. I've also used slip on jack more than a few times, especially for testing. E.g.
Link - 66 block to RJ-45 - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00F3W7NL4
I was recommended to look at Krone blocks. They look just great. Easy to break into for testing with their "look both ways" plug as well as their preterminated blocks looked much easier to rack-mount.
I've never run into Krone myself.
I found that using the two sides of a 66 block with bridge clips to be convenient for testing. Especially for building and / or floor entrance points. E.g. incoming network on the left side, outgoing station on the right side, and bridge clips connecting the two. Any time I need to test, pull the bridge clips to split the circuit in a way that's equally as easy to put back.
Sure, this technique burns more 66 block / wall space. But I found it to be worth while in some use cases, like building entry.
Any recommendations for places to get old telco blocks, testers, mounts, etc.?
Any recommendations for alternatives that are easier to source?
I look forward to learning from recommendations on this thread.
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