We recently dumped about 40 into a dumpster. I shed a tear. Sent via Blackberry while presumably driving with one hand ----- Original Message ----- From: Matthew Black <black@csulb.edu> To: hectorh@pobox.com <hectorh@pobox.com>; NANOG list <nanog@nanog.org> Sent: Thu Jul 28 11:19:11 2011 Subject: Re: 3Com Total Control documentation My sympathies to your unfortunate situation. The last tech probably doesn't want to be bothered...that's a management issue. A PortMaster 3 may solve your problems. I looked at 3Com Total Control about 15 years ago but know nothing about it. We employed US Robotics rack-mount chassis paired with Xyplex terminal servers. That was replaced with the Livingston PortMaster 3 (later bought by Lucent). Each PortMaster 3 connects to two T1 lines and a 10BaseT Ethernet, supporting 48 users. Use RADIUS authentication and you're all set. You can probably pick up some of those for a hundred dollars. You will need to learn about T1 phone lines and RADIUS. Best regards, matthew black california state university, long beach On Tue, 26 Jul 2011 19:35:35 -0700 Hector Herrera <hectorh@pobox.com> wrote:
Hi,
I have "inherited" several 3Com Total Control racks that are used to provide dial-up service to rural areas.
The racks have been running in auto-pilot for several years now and the last tech's comments with regard to the racks was along the lines of "I don't know".
I would like to regain control over the network as recently the outages are becoming more frequent and extended and we don't usually know about it until customers call the support line a week later.
Decommissioning the racks is not currently an option as there are no other reasonable alternatives for internet service (other than satellite). The ISP being an marginal area provider is also short in funds.
I'm having a hard time finding documentation, firmware updates or support for these racks.
As far as I can tell, the current owner of the product line is UTStarCom in China, but their website does not make any reference to the product.
I also found a company that sells the equipment and provides support contracts, WRCA, but their pricing is out of the budget range for the ISP.
I am hoping that some of you who used to work with this equipment may still have documentation CDs or firmware updates stored away somewhere.
I'm looking for any documentation, firmware updates and some help figuring out which NAC goes with which NIC.
Or perhaps you can suggest other companies that provide support for the equipment at more reasonable rates.
I would be willing to setup a public repository to help other admins.
Thanks,
-- Hector Herrera