On Fri Jan 25, 2013 at 01:27:06PM +0000, Ben Ward wrote:
> I'm looking for low-cost, fairly dumb ADSL/EFM DSLAMs, data only, capable
> of user-side VLANs. Some of the 24-port 1u devices look suitable, but I'd
> be interested in chassis too.
Interesting timing, because I'm going through exactly the same investigation
at the moment, althrough more on the ADSL than the EFM side.
> We have a number of Zhone MXK319s already deployed. The early days of
> deploying them were rage-filled with an inconsistent cli, off-by-one bugs
> and their occasionally forgetting how to do switching, but as long as you
> don't touch them them they just sit there.
I had a long discussion with Zhone's recommended reseller in the UK (The Kenton
Group) this morning. They have pointed me at both the MXK-319, and also their
1U 48 port boxes (DSL/Voice only) - MX-150 and MXP-150. On the EFM side, they
also recommended the Actelis Networks products.
http://www.microtel.co.uk/products/?cat=69
One thing which did surprise me is that the MXK-319 (even when fully populated
with 72 port ADSL2+ cards) works out more expensive per port than the MX-150.
Okay, you have a slightly lower support overhead with having thing in one
chassis with one management interface, but I can work around that when we do
the integration into our OSS/BSS backend systems.
I was also looking at the Zyxel products (as mentioned by Neil) - they have
comparable products to the Zhone ones - IES-1248 for a 1U 48 port DSLAM/MSAN,
and the IES-5000 for a chassis based solution, which has a similar range of
linecard option to the Zhone (including ADSL2+ and SHDSL/EFM). I've not yet
managed to speak to Zyxel or a reseller about these yet (any recommended
sales contacts?). Based on pricing found via google, the Zhone and Zyxel are
a similar price point.
The bloke from Kenton Group that I spoke to wasn't particularly complimentary
about the Zyxel products (but then, he was trying to sell me the Zhone stuff).
Simon
