Members of the ISP-Tech list share diverging experiences with Remote Access Servers from various manufacturers. As the V.92 event horizon approaches, ISPs need to face this issue.

[December 14, 2001]

On the ISP-Tech list in November, MD queried,

"We need to trade out our PortMaster 3s for a new generation of RAS that handles V.92 and DS3 input. As far as I know, the only players are 3Com, Lucent, and Cisco. Any recommendations?"

BH added another company to MD's list:

"Check out Patton's RAS units as well. I like their management options, and the fact that they are about half the price of anything else is a nice incentive."

Others recommended Lucent's offering:

[JS offered] "I have had excellent success with Lucent's MAX 6000 line."

[BH agreed] "I have several MAX 6096s and they are simply great; no problems at all."

There was some disagreement about the Cisco units, coming down to personal preference:

[JS warned] "I have used Cisco AS5300s and AS5400s: those units almost put me out of business. If you have Cisco units, you had better be ready to baby-sit them for hours on end."

[JW noted] "I have five Cisco AS5200s, and I haven't had a lick of trouble with them: they seem rock solid to me. We had a MAX 6096 for a while, but I sold it because it was more difficult to configure than the Ciscos."

—End